The Curse of the Gods
by Hitomi Zotz
Summary: A thief in Cairo, Jess, follows the Americans to Hamunaptra, they seek gold but she has another goal. Unwittingly caught up with them, siblings Evie and Jonathan, and Rick O'Connell it's a race against time and a mummy to preserve their lives and save Egypt from doom but Jess' mysterious quest has invoked another ancient curse, can the group beat a mummy and the wrath of the gods?
1. Chapter 1- A Thief in Cario

_Hi guys, so I rewatched The Mummy and forgot how much I loved it and the Americans! I honestly think they deserve more love. Anyway, this fic is somewhat a retelling of the movie with my own twists and some more focus on the Americans- Burns, Daniels and Henderson._

 _Summary- A young woman has lived in Cairo as a thief for two years now, no one is quite sure of her origins and she has earned the moniker Jackal courtesy of the jail warden. Overhearing of a quest to the fabled city of the dead Hamunaptra she is determined to go and sneaks aboard the riverboat, discreetly following the Americans, Dr. Chamberlain and Beni. Her motives are unclear and no one is willing to trust a thief and a stoaway, assuming she is only after a share of the gold out there, but it runs much deeper for the thief, Jess. For Jess her salvation lies in Hamunaptra as it holds the key to righting a terrible wrong in her past and helping to undo an unimaginable evil._

* * *

Rick O'Connell was bored, a strange emotion to feel in a hellhole like this and yet he did. He sagged against the wooden bars that frustratingly refused to bend and turned a dull gaze to the left where a new prisoner was being dragged in. Another small, young, scruffy male, maybe somewhere in their twenties, they were becoming a common sight in here although this one didn't look like a native or a member of the legion.

"In there thief," one of his guards snarled in Egyptian before pushing him into a waiting cell.

A thief then, no surprise there, Rick wondered what the penalty for that would be, a simple removal of the hands or a hanging like he was due. He gave the cell a brief glance, the boy, whose face was in the shade of a battered hat, was in with a middle aged drunkard who had apparently once been a respectable member of the town. The family name of the drunkard was Salih, and he claimed in moments of rambling that his family had once held great wealth and power, poor irony then that he was guilty of embezzlement and cheating. There was a rumour in town that he did carry some trinket, key or relic on him, the tale varied from tavern to tavern, that it was magical or could lead to the treasure and that he had vowed to be buried with it. O'Connell doubted it immensely but it hardly mattered in here.

The American shut his eyes briefly and bowed his head; it was coming up to high noon and the sun at its worst. There were cells inside in the lovely cool shade but when the warden took a disliking to you, you baked in the afternoon sun in small cells that smelt of faeces and urine, and the warden most definitely had a disliking for Rick. His entire body was burning, he was laced with sweat and he was beginning to feel sick with the heat. This wasn't a jovial summer to sun in, it was a cruel, scorching torment, people died in this heat every day and he was beginning to wonder if it might kill him before the noose.

As his throat began to hurt as it ached for water his angry thoughts turned to the Englishman who had robbed him of the only thing of value left in his possession. A reminder of that cursed wasteland, now he would never know what it had represented. There was a part of him that never wanted to return to that dead city again and yet there was a bigger part that just had to know its secrets and the truth of the evil and power he had sensed there. His whole army had marched there without needing the command too after all, it was a fable that had turned out to be real, how could he not wonder about its mysteries? He sighed in frustration, now wondering was all he would ever do about the city.

"Hh...hey!"

Rick opened his right eye and turned his head slightly as he heard the hoarse voice of Salih.

"Hey!" the man repeated himself with more conviction.

For a moment Rick wondered if he was hallucinating thanks to sunstroke and he found himself turning in shock, both eyes open now. The gate was open! How in the hell was that possible? His eyes searched for the young thief who had been in there just moments ago. There he was, just about to run in front of Rick's cell. He waited, had to time this right or the opportunity would be gone forever. His hand snapped out in a desperate grab as the thief made a run for it and he successfully grasped the end of a filthy formerly cream shirt.

"Let go!" a voice protested indignantly, just a little higher pitched than Rick might have expected.

"Get me out of here," he begged as he tightened his grasp. "I'll make it worth your while, I swear!" He looked at the boy with a serious conviction in his dark blue eyes.

The boy glanced over his bony shoulder as the guards started crying out and started moving in his direction. "Forget it!" he snapped.

"I know where treasure is, lots of it!" Rick snapped desperately. If it hadn't been so spontaneous he would have been able to say something a little less dumb and perhaps more convincing but there was no time to think.

Rick let out a curse as a fist punching down on his hand was his answer but he still did not let go. In desperation the thief shoved hard against his bars, pushing Rick's hand back with the full force of his body. A single curl of golden-brown hair slipped out of the front of the hat then prompting a curious look from Rick as he lost his grasp in the assault.

"Come back you jackal!" the warden hollered.

The thief bolted off, moving with a surprising agility leaving Salih to be kicked back into the cell and Rick sitting in a frustrated heap as he wondered how the hell a mere boy, and he wondered about that too, could escape with such ease and so quickly too whilst he had managed to rot here for three days without any hint of success in his own many attempts at freedom.

* * *

Cairo, capital of Egypt and its jewel, a tarnished jewel albeit but a jewel nonetheless. Egypt was meant to be independent now and yet you wouldn't know it to look around this city, it was a cesspit of nationalities, the irritating presence of the British soldiers reminding the natives that their newfound independence was fragile at best, the French Foreign Nationals reminding everyone of war, and of course the Westerners who fancied themselves explorers but were really just grave robbers and thieves in the making.

Jess, also fondly known as Jackal by several wronged people in the town, including some noble visitors, walked across the dusty streets of the capital with ease. Head bowed beneath a pith helmet, hair carefully pinned up under it, shirt collar high at her chin and she looked like just another idiotic would be adventurer. Alright she was a bit short and lean for a heroic adventurer and the pith helmet was definitely too big and kept sloping over her brow and blocking her vision but no one cared enough to notice these points. The other thieves of the city saw that her clothes were dirty and worn and dismissed her as poor and not worth their time, the British men who glimpsed her ignored her as unworthy competition, whilst the Americans leered at her silently as another stupidly dressed Englishman.

She paused slightly and five feet behind her a lanky, black Pharaoh Hound halted too. Again it was something odd about her to notice and yet no one seemed too, dismissing the dog as yet another stray of the city. He was in fact her one loyal companion in the whole rotten capital. Anu, the hound had helped her a year back, biting the hand of a guard who had seized her in a compromising situation in a nobleman's house. Ever since that fateful day Jess and Anu were, as she liked to think, firm friends.

The sun had set and most respectable people were off the dusty streets, no surprise then that a group of Americans were out walking to a nearby tavern. Jess knew she should ignore them, she had gotten her prize for the day but didn't their satchels look tempting and Americans were usually such easy marks in this city. Her stomach gave a low growl reminding her of a need to eat and she wondered dully exactly when her last meal had been. She swallowed hard and slipped over to a stall that was starting to close. Surrendering the pith hat in the shadows to the ground of an alleyway where some cats might paw at it, she then moved with ease past the stall. Walking by without once glancing at it, barely noticeable in the long shadows of the clay buildings, it wasn't hard to snatch up a new hat- small, brown, dented and highly unflattering, it would do the job for now. She slipped it on and entered the busy, rundown tavern with little difficulty.

It was crowded with locals and visitors alike, undoubtedly because it was cheap even if the beer did taste of warm cat pee, the main room was stuffy and the air was sickly sweet with sweat and cheap aftershaves. Jess took up a post against the crumbling left wall, giving her a clear sight of the Americans so she could pick her target and moment with ease. There were four in total, one who had a burning scorn in his dark eyes as he looked about the tavern's patrons with distain as if it was all beneath him, a blonde who evidently fancied himself a cowboy, and two brunettes, one of whom wore glasses and had a slightly nervous disposition as he seemed to huddle closer to his friends and looked to unsavoury drinkers with unease, whilst the other wore a suit and was easily the best dressed of the four.

"All we want is gold doc," the blonde said to the affronted, scowling man on his left.

"It's not so simple," the man grumbled tiredly in an accent that made it clear he was in fact an Englishman. "Maps are inaccurate, places are booby trapped or have been robbed," he lamented.

Jess rolled her eyes, greedy treasure hunters, 'big surprise,' she thought sardonically. Ignoring the protests of the blonde she made her move, walking up to them softly until she was close enough, then she turned and put her back to them. It was risky but more inconspicuous as she appeared apart from them; nothing looked odder than someone just standing staring at someone else's back. She had them memorised anyway, blondie down the left side, a deep pocket in his trousers, yep, she felt a small pouch of coins and drew it up painfully slowly. Coins were always a pain to steal since they had a high chance of jingling and giving the game away. She got them out and slipped them into her own back pocket before sidestepping subtly, on to the next victim. She dismissed glasses, his lower jacket pockets were stitched and he had nothing in his back trouser pockets, she could tell that much, so on to the suit. Down into the right jacket pocket, yep, success again. She felt something metallic, a couple of coins, and a chain, some type of jewellery? She would inspect it later. She removed the goods carefully and added them to her other back pocket before turning and stepping back.

It was then that Jess spied the beady eyed Hungarian approaching the Americans with a smirk, looking at them with the same hungry gleam in his eyes that she had.

"My friends," he addressed them brightly, earning a nonplussed look from the suit, "I heard you discussing an interest we both share."

"And what's that?" the cowboy queried frostily.

"Gold," came the fervent answer.

"Ha," the Englishman scorned, "let me guess, for a small fee you can guide us to a fortune."

"Well yes," the Hungarian retorted as he lost some of his confidence.

"Go back to whatever hovel you crept out of," the Englishman dismissed him, "we have been offered the same thing by a dozen people like you."

"Oh?" The man's dark eyes filled with a nasty glint that Jess recognised all too well, if she was a jackal then this man was a snake. "You've been offered a guide to Hamunaptra then?" he queried airily.

Jess let out a small gasp of surprise before she could help it but mercifully it went unnoticed by the Englishman's own gasp and the blonde's curse of disbelief. Her golden-brown eyes went wide and she took a step forward without meaning to as her heart started pounding rapidly. Had she heard right? Was it the same place? It had to be! After all this time!

"You lie!" the Englishman accused.

The Hungarian shrugged carelessly with a smug, seemingly innocent grin, he knew he had gained control of the conversation again. "My friend I do not lie about places I have been to."

"Been to?" the blonde marvelled.

"Who cares?" the dark haired male in the suit snapped impatiently. "What's one ancient pile of ruins to another? I just want some damn treasure."

"Hamunaptra isn't just a pile of ruins Daniels," the blonde snarled at his companion with an irritated look, "it's the lost City of the Dead," he paused to give the Hungarian an unfavourable look, "if it's even real."

"I assure you it is real," the Hungarian retorted confidently, pausing to adjust his red hat, "and for a negotiable fee I can take you."

"To a place that may exist," the suit, Daniels, remarked dubiously. "Forget it."

"Forget it and forget all the wealth of Egypt," the Hungarian commented almost warningly.

"Doc?" the blonde quipped as he looked to the Englishman.

The dark haired man frowned with a thoughtful look. "They say Seti was the wealthiest of the pharaohs and that all his treasure was hidden there," he murmured, "but there has never been any proof of it."

"I can take my offer to a more willing group," the Hungarian commented sharply with a smirk.

"Now wait just a minute," the cowboy said as he waved one hand at the man. "Let's get a drink and talk about this."

The Hungarian turned then to scan for prying ears and eyes and his beady gaze fell on Jess. She bowed her head then and reluctantly slipped through the crowds and disappeared out into the night. Hamunaptra, the lost City of the Dead, could it be real? The man was a snake, no doubt, and he could just be a clever con artist but she knew she couldn't just let it go, no matter how small the odds were she had to, after years of waiting and hunting this was the first she had even heard mention of the city, she had to find out! Knowing the Americans wouldn't be venturing off in the dead of the night she headed off to find her own abode for the night, pausing to scratch the ears of Anu as he finally joined her side.

* * *

Giza Port, always a busy part of the city, here the odour of promise hung heavy in the air today as the scents of imported and exported perfumes, soaps and spices enticed the noses of would be travellers and eager merchants. Every walk of life was here- children, men women, dogs, cats, cattle, goats, horses and donkeys. Carts, carriages, and pedestrians struggled to manoeuvre past each other and the market stalls between the yellow canopied warehouse buildings and the glittering river itself.

Jess looked up at the riverboat with a mixture of apprehension and awe, it seemed sturdy enough but she had never been one for travelling on water despite having done so more than once. The streets were packed as usual; even the bright afternoon sun couldn't stop prosperity in the city. The skies were clear, a warm turquoise that used to appear pretty to her but was now just a promise of no mercy from the sun, well at least it also meant no storms to disturb their travel, not yet anyway. She looked out across the silvery waters of the Nile, there was life, far more valuable that any gold buried in the sands, the Nile was the real reason the country kept going, without water there was only desert and death. It was beautiful, she could still appreciate that, wide, clear and busy with boats and yachts of trade and pleasure, it hurt to look at after a while as the sun's white rays were too bright on it.

She had followed the Americans here, shadowing them since the dawn knowing that they wouldn't waste any time. She had been unsurprised to find they had decided to risk the Hungarian's promises of a forgotten city of wealth and were now moving quickly with a purpose, determined to reach this fabled dormant domain of gold as soon as possible. Sadly, Cairo did not share their drive, there was only one riverboat going the direction they needed to go and that was now, just past midday, which had forced them to linger in the dusty city for a few frustrated, sweaty hours before they had to clamber on with everyone else.

"Tickets," the crew member remarked wearily as the trio and their panting, unhappy Egyptologist finally reached the top of the gangway.

Three tickets came out easily but the man with the glasses, who Jess had learned was called Burns, suddenly found himself patting his pockets with confusion and a frown.

"Ticket?" the crewman made it a suspicious query as he gave the now flustering man a stern glance.

"Burns now is not the time," the cowboy styled American grumbled as he frowned at his friend tiredly, "where the hell did you put it?"

Being forced to wait in the sticky, heavy heat with only cheap, warm alcohol to provide a brief relief had not helped the group any and their frustrations were finally starting to show.

"It was right here," Burns retorted as he patted at the front pocket of his white shirt. "I couldn't have lost it," he stammered, "there's no hole."

'No,' Jess thought with a smug smile, 'not lost.' It had been a tricky theft and she could have avoided it, there were plenty of other people waiting around the docks to pilfer a ticket from but she had liked the challenge.

The cowboy would have been the easiest to take from, his ticket had been shoved carelessly into the lower pocket of his jacket, easy pickings for anyone but Jess was determined to exercise her skills, undoubtedly she would need them in Hamunaptra. So she had played a very patient waiting game in a small, dingy bar, sitting in the shadows of a crowded, lopsided table, ignoring her companions there as she had watched subtly, hoping her chance would come before the Americans thought to depart.

After half an hour in the bar Jess' opportunity had arisen as the man known as Burns had given up his fashion sense and given into the heat, tugging off his blazer and leaving his shirt exposed. Of course his ticket had been at the front of his shirt, he wasn't stupid, so Jess still had to wait until he had stood and headed to the bar. It was easy after that, she had orchestrated the crowds with a few nudges and sidesteps here and there until Burns had inevitably bumped into an oily scalped Frenchman who had had enough mosquito bites to suggest a temper that wouldn't allow Burns' mumbled apology to satisfy him.

In the minor chaos that had followed with the defensive Henderson and gung-ho Daniels up and ready to meet the challenge before the Egyptologist, Dr. Chamberlain, had diffused the situation, Jess was able to 'bump' into Burns unnoticed. She had done so with the other gawkers and the Frenchman's colleagues who were getting up close too and the ticket was gone. Burns had noticed something but dismissed it as an unpleasant nudge from the Frenchman.

Jess knew it was a risky move on her part, if the Americans didn't have tickets they might not depart and it might all be for naught but she knew their ilk; they weren't going to let a minor problem like this keep them from their gold. So let them work for their theft then just like she had to. She watched from behind them with a coy gaze partially concealed beneath a dusty black hat, too focused on the poor Burns to notice the piercing eyes of Beni.

The Hungarian studied the figure behind them curiously, certain the small, thin form looked a little familiar, and what was with that a glint of a smile beneath the hat? His frown deepened before he rolled his eyes as Daniels reached for a gun; it always seemed to be his answer to a problem. 'Damn Americans,' Beni thought scornfully, 'they're going to get me shot before we even get on this boat.' He let out a nervous laugh as he stepped forward to his take his turn at neutralising what would undoubtedly be the first of many problems with the Yankees.

Henderson and Daniels were both yelling angrily at the crewman who was demanding they leave the queue.

"He's got a ticket," Daniels snapped, "just hold your horses!"

Jess' smile widened as people behind them started complaining whilst the good Dr. Chamberlain muttered a few choice words under his breath as he struggled to balance his luggage.

'If these guys can't get onto a boat what chance do they have in the city of the dead?' Jess pondered to herself sardonically.

"Could you hurry up already, make them swim if they don't have tickets!"

Jess tensed at that voice, it sounded vaguely familiar. She glanced over her shoulder and down the crowded gangway trying to spy the caller.

"Yes make them swim!" an Englishman's voice piped up as he waved an arm in the air.

Jess frowned as she spotted him, she definitely knew that voice. That Englishman was the reason she had been thrown in a cell, oh sure she had planned the whole thing but he hadn't known that, reporting her for pocketing a watch of his when he was a no good thief himself. She looked to his companions, a young, bookish, brunette woman and a handsome man, neither of whom she recognised. What she missed was the bumbling warden lingering behind them, just out of sight behind the Englishman.

"Look, my friends have a lot of coin," Beni addressed the crewman quickly in a low voice as he clapped a hand on his right shoulder, "how about we pay you for two tickets for our inconvenience?"

"Now wait just a minute-" Henderson began a protest.

"Oh for heaven's sake just do it!" Dr. Chamberlain snapped as a fly started buzzing a little too closely to his nose.

"You'll get it all back, and much more," Beni reminded them with a yellow toothed grin.

Jess shook her head as the trio reluctantly fumbled for their cash. 'Money, how disappointing,' she thought disparagingly. 'So it's guns or gold, how narrow minded.'

They compared their notes and coins before finally shoving a handful of it over to the crewman. "Let us on already," Henderson growled at the man as he glared at him with his dark blue eyes.

The crewman accepted the coin with a nod, hiding the joy from his face as he stepped back and finally granted them access.

"Finally," Daniels grumbled wearily.

Jess stepped up next, holding out her ticket and ignoring the look of scorn she got in return as the man puzzled over her attire and gender. Brown trousers, a cream shirt, brown leather belt, brown boots and a faded, long, mustard vest, and of course the ill-suited black hat that offered little disguise. She wasn't trying to be in disguise, just a little more inconspicuous as an unescorted woman on a boat, better she was overlooked as a boy than noticed for that.

The crewman snatched her ticket off her before spitting to the right showing that he knew she was a female and was disgusted by it. Jess just rolled her amber-brown eyes at him before slinging her brown satchel up her right shoulder and continuing onto the boat.

"So how far is this place anyway?" Daniels grunted from a few feet up ahead.

"It is three days down the Nile, then two days by camel, Barat'm," Beni answered calmly as he glanced about the deck curiously, his beady eyes taking in the wealthier looking travellers eagerly.

"All the money we're payin' you, there better be something under that sand," Daniels retorted warningly with a glare. His already short fuse had reached its limitations after their problems boarding.

Beni read the threat in the man's almost black-blue stare and knew he was a man quite likely to shoot someone who crossed him.

"Hamunaptra, Daniels," the blonde Henderson calmed his friend as he clapped a hand on his left shoulder. "That's all you gotta keep telling yourself. Hamunaptra."

"We're gonna find it, boys," Burns chirped up with a small grin, his stress already forgotten now that they were onboard, "and we're gonna make history."

"And get rich doin' it," Henderson added confidently.

"Let's get a drink first," Daniels murmured moodily as he shrugged off Henderson's hand.

Jess watched as they headed off to their quarters. The young woman didn't bother with attempting to find quarters for herself, her ticket was stolen after all and the paths to get up on the boat were still packed so it would be hard to imagine any spare rooms on board. Weary, she settled for a nice spot on deck under the shade of an aged, yellowing umbrella, sitting on a wooden deckchair, stretching out her legs and crossing them at the ankles, head bowed and giving the illusion of a person inattentive and napping. They were all safely on board now, no need to worry about where to go next until the riverboat docked.

Then her dark adventure could begin. Let the Americans have the gold, she had something much more important to find in the dangerous city of the dead, something far more valuable.


	2. Chapter 2- A Starry Boat Ride

Henry Henderson looked out at the black waters of the Nile with a sceptical look, a deceptively beautiful river of stars; he knew anything could be hiding beneath those obsidian ripples; death could be lurking down in the deep unknown but then again, so could treasure. The American Frontier had been tamed going on eleven years now, the Wild West was dead and men like him were left lost, too rough for modern society and too adventurous to ever consider that giving up the wild plains and unconquered deserts for cities and suits was really the right choice. So, in a plight of desperation to escape succumbing to an early death from drink he had swapped one desert for another, hoping that on these ancient golden sands he might yet find freedom, adventure and riches. The West had failed him, it had failed them all and yet even now when he was many miles and days from it he still couldn't forget his bittersweet love for that life. The stench of camels didn't quite compare to the odour of cattle, and the scorching sun here brought only burns and death whilst at home it showed a little more mercy and had helped with the grass to feed the cattle.

The roguish blonde spat a mouthful of tobacco down over the railings carelessly, he didn't see the ripple it caused or hear the soft splash over the chatter and music behind him and yet he felt it, that perfect mirage of the night sky ruined with one simple gesture. 'It's all a mirage at the moment,' he thought moodily, 'I'll not believe in anything until the gold is actually in my hands. Hell even then there's no guarantee,' he thought bitterly, 'anything can be taken from you these days, still, I'll make damn sure if there really is treasure no one takes it from me unless it's from my cold dead hands.'

"Hey Henderson we're all ready for you!" Bernard 'Bernie' Burns called to his friend as he finished setting up their poker game.

"I say, could I possibly join you gentlemen?"

Henderson turned at the excited voice and gave a small smile at the gentleman; a well-dressed Englishman, there was a hint of poverty to him despite his best attempts to mimic his fellow Englishmen on the boat. His mustard coloured shirt was wrinkled enough to suggest a lot of wear and whilst the blue silk poking up from above the collar was evidence of the good quality of the shirt Henderson imagined it was a hand me down from a father or grandfather or indeed both. His off-white linen coat was another sign of his shortcomings, a few grey stains at the bottom, a loose brown button on the lower right pocket and a few threads at the cuff of the left sleeve. Henderson was quite willing to bet that this unfortunate man had undoubtedly been rejected by his peers on this boat which was why he was trying to find acquaintances with them, the uncultured Americans.

"Sure," Burns was quick to answer, ignoring the shake of Daniels' head. Bernard always was the friendliest of the three, sad thing was he was being sincere whilst Daniels was already looking at the Englishman to see if he could salvage a bad situation and make some quick cash. "What's the name?"

"Jonathan Carnahan," he retorted with a wide smile as he occupied a seat beside Burns and Daniels.

Dr. Chamberlain was swift to give the man his own look of disapproval from his vantage point of a table to their left. Sure he was technically in the Americans' pay but even the good doctor was too English to be seen gambling, having fun and in a form of friendship with the Americans. Henderson didn't take it personally, if the doctor wanted to stay as strictly an employee, so be it, so long as he helped in their quest for treasure the blonde didn't care much. Daniels was more inclined to take offence, calling the Egyptologist a stuck up bastard, once to his face until Burns had quietened him down and make a quick apology on his behalf.

"Do you want a drink Mr. Carnahan?" Henderson queried as he stepped up to the green clothed table at last.

Jonathan turned up to him with a wide smile that the blonde found contagious. "I'd be delighted," the Englishman retorted cheerfully.

"Burns?"

The quietest of the rambunctious trio shook his head with a small grin, he was already on his third glass whilst Daniels had just finished a fourth. It wasn't that Burns disliked the drinking he just felt Henderson and Daniels almost had some sort of dependency on it, like it was difficult for them to find fun without it and that he could not relate to. Alright Prohibition had been ongoing three years now at home and that made getting and enjoying drink all the harder so it was nice to enjoy its seductive and hazardous pleasures with ease but they were on the Nile sailing for a mythical treasure, who the Hell really needed alcohol to make that better? Wasn't it incredible enough? Even now he still couldn't believe he was here.

"Daniels need I even ask you?" Henderson quipped mockingly.

"Don't get cute Henderson," Daniels was quick to chide as he lifted his empty glass and shook it pointedly.

"Doc?" Henderson gave a brown toothed smile at the unpleasant look the Egyptologist gave him in response. "Nah I didn't think so." He gave a low laugh before trudging off to the bar.

Once Henderson returned the poker game started amicably. They were mostly unaware of the young pair of eyes watching them from across the way with fascination. Jonathan and Henderson glimpsed the amber-brown eyes a few times but dismissed them as belonging to a lad probably eager to gamble with them but too poor, ignorant or shy to try and take part.

"Quit playin' with your glasses and cut the deck, would you Burns?" Daniels snapped impatiently as Burns plucked off his spectacles to clean them for the third time.

"Without my glasses I can't see the deck to cut it, now can I, Daniels?" Burns retorted sarcastically as he rubbed them clean with the corner of his jacket before placing them back on. "You're just sore cause you're losin'," he added with a teasing smile.

Daniels bristled in his chair before giving a grunt and downing the remainder of his glass.

Henderson laughed. "And you're just cocky cause you're winnin'," he commented to Burns.

Jonathan laughed along with the blonde earning an unpleasant indigo eyed glare from Daniels, which he promptly ignored. "So...Mr. Carnahan, what's your business across the water anyway?" Daniels pried.

"Ah, well chaps you probably wouldn't believe me," Jonathan retorted as he puffed out his chest slightly and his bright cobalt eyes filled with a suggestive twinkle. "In fact I'm probably not even allowed to say," he bragged.

Jess frowned, her seat had lost its advantages as the deck had become more crowded, people eager to enjoy the cool, dry night beneath the stars and close to the bars and she could no longer hear what the Americans were saying. Seeing the look on the Englishman's face, Jonathan, she determined to move forward. She recalled her brief encounter with him before he had dramatically demanded her arrest and didn't think he was really the type to say anything worth listening to and yet the passionate look in his eyes had her intrigued.

She moved to stand near a table to the right but saw Henderson's eyes upon her. 'Not so stupid,' she thought with a prickle of irritation mixed with surprise as she manoeuvred herself on, round him, purposely positioning herself near the wooden wall at Henderson's back, standing beside a couple of smokers.

"Alright, you win the next hand you keep your secrets," Daniels said, "I win it and you tell us where you're heading that's so damn exciting."

"And what if I win, or Burns, which is a hell of a lot more likely than you Daniels?" Henderson queried.

Daniels shrugged and frowned as his dark glittering gaze flickered over to his friend. "Well what do you want?" he questioned gruffly.

"Same as you," Henderson answered brightly with a nod at Jonathan, "our friend's fascinating destination."

"Yeah I'll play for that," Burns commented eagerly as he shuffled the cards again, "so it better be good Jonathan."

"It is," Jonathan assured with a nod.

Jess rolled her eyes beneath the tilt of her hat, the man was clearly a liar and yet, despite her scepticism, just like the Americans she wanted to know what he had to say anyway. Unable to strain her neck enough to see the poker hands without looking a little too obvious she remained as she was, head tipped down, not watching but listening. There was some minor chatter from Henderson and Jonathan as they played whilst the more serious Daniels kept quiet, as did Burns who was taking his winning streak a little more seriously.

A curse from Daniels and the loud slamming of his hand on the table indicated an angry fold whilst Jonathan and Burns shuffled their notes into the pot.

"Full house, beats your two pair Jonathan," Burns remarked happily as he revealed his hand.

"So where's the mystery destination?" Daniels queried with a bored stare.

"Well gentlemen," Jonathan said as banished his frowned and leaned into the table almost conspiratorially, "it's Hamunaptra."

Jess felt her blood turn cold as Henderson laughed, Daniels muttered another curse and leaned back in his seat and Burns frowned in disbelief. 'No one knows of this place for years,' Jess thought as she clenched her fists in anger, 'no one and now two separate parties suddenly know exactly where it is and are going there on the same bloody boat. It can't be true! It's impossible! Something's not right!'

"Funny," Henderson said at last as he rubbed at the stubble on his lip with one finger, "we're heading for the same place. Fancy yourself a treasure hunter then?"

Jonathan gave a wide smile, apparently more delighted at the coincidence than the rest of them were. "Well somewhat yes, my sister and I both, you see it's in the blood, we come from a proud lineage of Egyptian explorers."

"Really?" Daniels queried dryly.

Too caught up in the latest exaggeration from the Englishman, Jess heard the approaching footsteps too late. She looked up at the sound of the boots and that was her folly, a flash of those golden-brown eyes and Rick O'Connell recognised her immediately. She was ready to dismiss him until she saw recognition in his sea blue stare. His right hand reached out and flipped up her battered hat suddenly, flinging it off and to the deck.

"I knew it," Rick remarked brightly with a smug smile as Jess' golden brown hair tumbled down. "A thief and a woman, terrible combination," he added with a scolding shake of his head.

Jess remained composed, though it took all her self-control not to grasp down desperately for that hat and show her surprise. Instead the young woman scowled up at him fiercely and snapped, "do I know you?"

He folded his arms and laughed at her. "Really?" he quipped sardonically. "Hmm well I suppose I do look better outside of a prison cell," he added a little more darkly as he leaned down to her.

Jess arched an eyebrow at that, genuinely confused as she took in the American. His voice did sound familiar even if nothing else about him was recognisable. He cut a dashing figure, every inch the brave and handsome adventuring soldier, ready to cross the seas to foreign lands just to prove he could. He reminded her a little of Henderson, they were surely cut from the same cloth, too good looking, bold Americans undoubtedly here so they could later impress some pretty women by bragging about their exploits in the savage lands of Egypt.

"I don't know you," she said coldly.

Rick sighed. "No beard," he informed her as he pointed to his smooth, golden chin with another grin, "no rope either but you missed that part. I just thought you'd like to know you left me to hang. Quick little thing when you want to be aren't you?" He took a step into her, raising his right arm and planting his palm against the wooden wall beside her as if daring her to bolt again. "Not really anywhere to run on a boat though, is there?"

"O'Connell what are you doing?" Jonathan queried curiously as he finally noticed his friend. "Come and sit down!" He looked to the Americans and said, "he's a partner of mine."

"I'm busy at the moment Jonathan," Rick retorted through a gritted smile, his gaze never leaving Jess. "I just want to know one thing," he addressed her quietly, "how the hell did you get out of that cell so fast?"

Jess continued to stare up at him in puzzlement, that voice was definitely familiar. 'Out of the cell...ah damn, American, he grabbed my shirt like a fool!' She only just hid her shock from her face. The desperate man who had grabbed her from his cell had been a filthy, bushy, bedraggled man, this man before her didn't even compare, he was comely, sophisticated and charming even as his warm blue eyes flared with a subdued anger.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Jess retorted airily, "and I don't think it's very gentlemanly of you to upset my hat like that."

Rick laughed before he could help himself, not that he was willing to show it but she surprised him as much he did her. For one thing he had not been expecting the elitist English accent she addressed him with. It was not quite as natural as Evelyn's, almost as if she had forgotten it, and not so grating as Jonathan's could be and there was perhaps an Irish taint to it too, he couldn't tell for sure. It was a far cry from the thick, common Cairo soiled accent Rick had been expecting, some corruption of Egyptian with French or Italian maybe. He had been half-convinced to look at her that she was another urchin bastard born of a soldier's liaison with a native, or a tourist's ill-advised rendezvous with a native or maybe another foreigner's bored wife. He supposed to look at her that the brown freckles on her cheeks and the copper hue to her skin might just be from the sun rather than heritage, certainly the hair was too fair for a native and the eyes, whilst odd, weren't exactly exotic.

"I'm sorry," Rick apologised sardonically, "does your hat need a tissue?"

Jess looked away sharply to hide the smile that bloomed before she could stop it.

"O'Connell come sit down already!" Jonathan snapped impatiently as he stood up to pry over Henderson at Rick. "Who are you talking to anyway?" he demanded nosily.

Rick looked to Jonathan in annoyance and Jess seized her chance to slip out under his arm and lose herself in the crowds. Rick swallowed down a curse before turning to Jonathan who sat back down with a smile. 'It's not like she has anywhere to go,' Rick reminded himself.

"Sit down O'Connell," Jonathan repeated, "we could use another good player."

"I only gamble with my life, never my money," Rick answered calmly as he surveyed the table, noting the clear winner.

"Never?" Daniels questioned as he looked up at Rick daringly. Daniels had yet to meet a man he couldn't persuade into a gamble. "What if I were to wager, five hundred dollars says we get to Hamunaptra before you?"

Rick met the man's cocky gaze calmly, his lips in a straight line as he resisted the urge to frown. His fellow American was looking at him dubiously, as if he doubted Rick even had that kind of cash to throw around. Daniels' indigo stare was very serious as he ignored Henderson's grin and raised his dark eyebrows questioningly at O'Connell.

"Who says we're going to Hamunaptra?" Rick queried quietly.

"He does," all three Americans answered swiftly as Burns pointed to Jonathan half-heartedly without looking at him whilst Daniels pointed at him directly across the table with a challenging glare as if daring Jonathan to deny it.

Jonathan kept deliberately focused on his cards as he tried to ignore the heated glower Rick gave him. "Oh really?" Rick queried sardonically before his stare returned to Daniels who was now giving him a small, crooked smile. "You're on then," he informed him confidently, flashing his own smile when he saw the surprise in Daniels' eyes.

"What makes you so confident sir?" This query came from Dr. Chamberlain who had paused smoking his hookah pipe to glare up at Rick indignantly.

"What makes you?" Rick shot back as his gaze flickered over to the Egyptologist.

"We got us a man who's actually been there," it was Henderson who answered for the group.

Jonathan and Rick both looked startled at the news, prompting a smug smile from all three Americans. Not to be bested Jonathan suddenly blurted out, "I say, what a coincidence, why-" He winced when Rick shouldering him with his gunny sack suddenly cut him off. Realising his error Jonathan stammered on, "whose deal is it? Is it my deal?"

Rick sighed. "Goodnight gentlemen," he murmured before walking on, his eyes searching the crowded deck for the lost but certainly not forgotten thief. If she was still on deck he couldn't see her. So he headed on the other side of the deck at a quieter area away from the bar where Jonathan's sister Evelyn was seated alone at a table staring out at the black river.

* * *

After her encounter with the formerly imprisoned American, O'Connell Jonathan had called him, Jess had headed below deck, taking up a brief residence in the lounge room there but her long hair gave her away too quickly as a woman and she grew tired of the stares for her unwomanly attire. After forking out a tongue at one gawking gentleman and wriggling her fingers on the end of her nose at another lady she knew it was time to go.

So Jess slipped back onto the deck but remained in the shadows, tired now and too wary of Jonathan recognising her to return to the Americans. She contemplated thieving another hat but what was the point? Enough people on the boat knew she was a woman and whilst that was irritating due to the attention it was no huge loss. She would wait until they docked and then adapt if necessary to follow the Americans. She was hopeful though that they would be foolish enough to leave an easy trail for her to follow if it came to that. Of course she couldn't follow too far behind lest they find what she was looking for first, worse, what if this other American O'Connell and his group found it?

Deciding she needed a drink she slung her unbound hair over her shoulders and shuffled to the bar, she probably wouldn't get served despite being over age but that wouldn't be fun anyway. It would be much more challenging to snatch up a drink she fancied from an unsuspecting consumer.

It didn't take long for Jess to steal a suitably delicious looking cocktail and carry it over to the railings of the boat. As she fiddled with the olive on the cocktail stick she looked out at the Nile with the same displeasure Henderson had gazed at it. There was deception, on a warm night the calm Nile invited the unwary to take a dip in its cool water little suspecting the predators lurking beneath in the darkness. Never mind how easy it was to forget the depth of the river when one couldn't see its bottom, how easy it must be to tire in its never ending curves and be swallowed up in its moist embrace in a moment of careless exhaustion.

"Did you forget this?"

Jess turned at the sardonically worded question and a flood of curses raced through her. 'God damn it!' It was the blonde American, she knew his last name was Henderson but she had yet to overhear his first. All she had gotten from his pockets were coins.

He held out the tattered black hat in his right hand. So he had seen O'Connell knock it off her then, had he heard O'Connell's accusations? She frowned slightly, no, O'Connell had been talking to her quietly and the deck had been noisy.

"Who's he talking to?" Burns queried as he pocketed the last of his winnings.

Daniels followed his friend's curious stare, taking in the brown trousers first, then the mustard vest top and finally the spill of messy, thin, golden-brown hair, which had him arching his bushy eyebrows slightly. "A woman I think," he retorted mockingly. "They all do dress funny round here don't they?"

Burns nodded in agreement, his gaze darting over to Dr. Chamberlain as he gave Daniels a suggestive smile. Daniels glanced over his shoulder, following Burns gaze and he let out a snigger before he could help himself. Dr. Chamberlain certainly did have a particular way of dressing; Daniels thought it was all too much- shirt, waistcoat, jacket, tie, scarf, monocle and a fez, who needed so many layers and accessories? Why a tie and a scarf? It just puzzled the American.

Dr. Chamberlain gave Daniels an unpleasant look before resuming reading his novel and puffing on that atrocious hookah pipe he kept trying to convince Henderson was better than tobacco. 'Think of the treasure,' Allen Chamberlain reminded himself calmly, 'Hamunaptra if the Hungarian is to be believed, the find of the century. Well at least they had the sense not to pay the ruffian in full so he shouldn't lead us to some forsaken hole at any rate. You can endure Daniels for Hamunaptra, you can endure anything for that Allen, your name will go down in history if it's true!'

Jess clapped her hands against her hips lightly and shook her head with a faint smile. "Not mine but thanks," she answered brightly as she glanced up at Henderson. He was attractive in a rough way she supposed, it was as if he might have been a debonair young soldier once but somewhere it had gone wrong and through a combination of apathy, age, wear and stress he had developed into a man who wasn't instantly pleasing to the eye like O'Connell but rather needed a more detailed look before the attraction could be spied. He had deep groves in his cheeks suggesting more frowns than smiles of late, his teeth were stained from his tobacco chewing, his dark stubble was getting heavier at his lip, his eyes were sunken and slightly bloodshot, and his thick, golden hair was unruly, brushing the back of his neck in tangled waves.

"Really because I saw Mr. O'Connell knock it from your head," Henderson informed her with a small smile.

Jess shrugged, feigning ignorance though she knew it was pointless. Before she could think of something to say all hell broke loose. She turned at first in interest and relief as she heard the cries of commotion but when gunfire erupted across the deck and the cries turned into screams of pain she filled with alarm. Her eyes darted about as she stayed rigid whilst everyone else moved either in a panic or in defence. Men in black robes moved through the crowds with a deadly purpose, some wielded scimitars, some carried knives, and some carried guns.

There was a loud boom as a minor explosion turned a large section to the right into a flaming chaos as men and women suddenly found themselves alight. Jess dodged to the right to avoid a man shrieking and running blindly as he waved his burning limbs violently before throwing himself over the railings.

"What the hell is going on?" Burns yelled as he tugged out his pair of Colt M1911s.

"We're going to get killed!" Dr. Chamberlain shrieked dramatically as he slammed his book closed against his chest with his umbrella and fell to his knees in a panic.

"Nonsense," Daniels scorned with an excited gleam in his eye as he surveyed the scene briskly. "Quick, we need some defence here!" he snapped as he moved to upturn some chairs against each other.

Jess let out a curse as a bullet whistled past her left side, dangerously close to her skull. She opened the satchel ever present on her right shoulder and plucked out her only weapon, a sickle. Ebony handle and sharpened bronze blade it had been a fine prize from some foolish French collector's house and since coming into Jess' position it had ceased being an ornament and been bloodied many times. Not that she had any real skill with it, hack and slash, it was one of the darker lessons living in Cario's dusty streets had taught her, kill or be killed, fight or be a victim.

Henderson moved to help Daniels set up a barricade, which seconds later the three found themselves ducking behind as another minor explosion went off as some of the alcohol caught aflame and glass shattered everywhere.

Jess swallowed down a scream as three shards cut through her trouser leg and into the flesh just above her right ankle. Before she could even think about the pain she heard a yell to her left and turned just in time to avoid the scimitar. She darted back as the blade came down just in front of her and wasting no time she struck out with her own weapon.

Daniels' indigo eyes went wide as he saw the sickle sink deep through the folds of black cloth and into the bend of the man's arm, reaching down to the elbow. The woman yanked the blade out just as quickly as she sank it in with a savage look and swung up, catching the surprised man beneath his chin and drawing a small spray of blood. "Jee-sus," Daniels remarked loudly before he turned as gunfire came his way.

Dr. Chamberlain shut his eyes tightly as he cowered behind the Americans at the sound of the gunfire muttering as many prayers as curses as he trembled and even whimpered when the bullets seemed to come close.

BANG! BANG! BANG! Henderson, Burns, and Daniels returned the gunfire with shouts of glee. The panic onboard only worsened as the horses came cantering past with whinnies of terror as their Egyptian keepers tried to guide them to decks. Some went of their volition whilst others reared in a panic and were swift to trample any who fell beneath their hoofs. Jess looked on in a silent horror as one poor buckskin stallion went up in flames and shot across the deck with unnerving speed turning into a deadly fireball, she witnessed at least four unfortunates caught up in its path before the poor creature finally tumbled to its death in the Nile.

BANG! BANG! BANG! Burns felled two of their sable cloaked attackers with ease and a delighted 'whoop'. For a man who wore glasses he had an astonishingly accurate shot and barely wasted a bullet. He and Daniels both used two revolvers whilst Henderson jovially spun the barrel of his Colt Single Action Army until he was out of bullets and forced to duck and reload.

Caught in the crossfire, Jonathan stumbled through fire and a hail of bullets, letting out a yell as he was almost hit several times and stumbled over debris in the commotion. He paused to catch his breath and cast an unsavoury look at the excited trio who seemed to be shooting wildly at everything and anything that moved. "Americans," he said loudly in irritation with a shake of his head as if the word was a curse.

He let out a cry of terror when a man came charging at him, his clothes turned into robes of crimson and amber fire, a steely hook for a hand now out and pointing at Jonathan. He was frozen in alarm and saved from being gutted due to the flaming madman catching his foot on a broken chair.

Jess turned at the yell, catching the end of a rifle to her ribs as she did. She doubled over with a gasp of pain, turning frantically to push the rifle away before it went off. BANG! Another bullet narrowly missed. Her heart was pounding hard, there was a low ringing in her ears and she couldn't think logically anymore. She was on an adrenaline rush and with every second more reason gave way to instinct as she simply just moved in an effort to survive.

The hook came down, slicing through Jonathan's mustard shirt and cutting a shallow wound though to hear his howls of pain one would have thought it a mortal injury. The Englishman opted for hysterics over sense, wailing for his life rather than fighting for it.

Jess let out her own yell as a black boot to the chest sent her reeling back into chairs and upturned tables. She let out a groan as the breath rushed from her chest and she found herself looking up at two black holes of death.

BANG! The hooked man gave a shudder as Henderson's bullet sank into his back before he fell over the railings with the impact.

BANG! BANG! The tattooed man towering over Jess let out a gasp of pain as he suddenly went rigid. Jess rolled just in time before he came slumping down thanks to Daniels' two bullets. The young woman detangled her limbs from the broken wood, cursing at the few splinters she suffered as she tried to right herself.

The Americans weren't showing the fear of anyone else on board, to them this was exciting, the start of the adventure they had been growing impatient for and at last a chance to shake off the dust and use their guns again.

Jonathan stumbled back slightly and looked to the Americans with a grateful grin. "I say good show!" he praised before he looked to the deck where his pith helmet had fallen in the commotion and picked it up. "And did I panic?" he quipped as he placed his helmet on confidently and then threw a small box up in the air daringly. "I think not!" he finished as he pocketed the box.

As if affronted by Jonathan's lies the already bad situation immediately worsened as a stampede of horses came their way and another fiery explosion erupted across the deck. Jonathan wobbled with the impact and found himself slipping over the railings backwards with a wild scream.

Dr. Chamberlain moved first, pushing back against Daniels as he fled for the railings with a yell of panic. Daniels let out several loud, angry curses as he fumbled against the barricade as his arms caught against table legs and pieces of chairs and his fedora slipped down blocking his vision.

Burns stood and dragged Daniels back and up with him before they all turned in the chaos, seeking the only remaining part of the railings that wasn't on fire. Dr. Chamberlain ungracefully shoved several of their own men out of the way before leaping over the railings, clutching his fez with one hand as he did. Daniels wondered bitingly how the idiot hoped to swim if he was holding his fez with one hand and his book and umbrella with the other.

Henderson raced after him, pausing suddenly to glance Jess' way. The woman was just standing there; bloody sickle in one hand as she looked to the railings everyone was fighting to clamber over with unease. "Come on!" the blonde shouted at her with a wave.

Jess gave him a wide, nervous smile before shaking her head. "No thanks," she called back with false cheer.

"Don't be an idiot woman, this boat's going down!" Henderson snapped.

There was a crackle followed by a loud bang and several screams as a horse tried and failed to jump through them, setting the debris between Jess and Henderson alight.

Burns almost collided with his friend in an effort to get off. "Come on!" he yelled at the blonde as he pushed on his left shoulder with one hand. "Before the whole railing is on fire!"

Henderson squinted through the flames to see if the woman had moved and was astounded to see her standing in the same place, the flames almost licking at her boots. He pointed in her direction with one hand and a look of disbelief. "She won't move!"

"Who cares?" Daniels snarled as he ran past him. "Whole damn ship's going to blow and you're worried about a stranger!" He gave his friend an incredulous look. "Get moving Henry!"

Burns followed Henderson's gaze, rubbing the smoke stains off his glasses as he did. He frowned as he hesitated to move, it wasn't right abandoning someone on a sinking ship but they couldn't save anyone and she was spooked, people were like animals in that respect, once they were well and truly spooked there was no moving them.

Henderson took a step towards her, letting out a curse as the floor suddenly gave way beneath him; he was saved from the minor hole that appeared below by Burns yanking him back sharply. "Come on," Burns ordered, "we can't get to her."

Daniels paused at the railings to glance back at his friends and let out a swear as he saw them still staring at that stupid woman. As if finally sensing her impending danger from the fire she finally moved, leaping over a small cluster of flames with a wince before running to the right to avoid a fallen man and then dodging to the left to evade the swing of a scimitar from a black robed foe. Yet when she neared him and the railings she froze up again.

"Jump!" Henderson snapped as he and Burns started to run in her direction and the railings, delayed by the crowds that shoved through them.

"No," Jess murmured, "no...it's...it's okay."

"Aw hell." Daniels rolled his eyes, knowing Henderson well enough to know that he wasn't heartless enough to leave a woman on a burning ship even if she was at the point of deserving it. He holstered his revolvers and moved to her.

Jess let out a scream when she was suddenly and clumsily plucked off the deck and thrown over a shoulder. Just as quickly she found herself flying, no, falling through the air looking up at the fiery boat in terror. "I can't swim!"

Daniels didn't hear those words as he followed straight after her with Henderson and Burns hot on his tail.

The water was colder than expected, a shock to some and a relief to others who had suffered some deadly burns, it was pitch black too and some floundered in a panicked confusion as they tried to guess where the surface was. For a moment Jess succumbed to the same bewildered panic that resulted in many around her taking unnecessary gasps under the water and ensuring a quick drowning. After what felt like hours she saw the twinkling orange and yellow of the fire and she moved in its direction.

The woman's brothers had encouraged her to learn to swim, urging her to practice in a pond at the back of their property. Her mother had considered it unseemly but turned a blind eye to it until the incident. 'NO!' she snapped at herself. 'Don't think about it! Not now! Don't be stupid! Remember what Richard said, kick, kick and keep kicking!'

Up, up, was it even up? Was she chasing the flames or a reflection or something else? Just as she began to despair and her legs threatened to cramp her head broke the frothy surface.

The normally calm Nile was churning as if boiling with the amount of people and horses struggling to brave its depths. She choked on white froth several times as people battled over floating furniture and rubber rings, even pushing each other under the currents and punching each other. Her eyes widened when she realised why, an already deadly situation had worsened again. The Nile crocodiles had picked up on the sudden activity in their home and smelling blood they were beginning a frenzied feast.

Dr. Chamberlain let out a few appropriate yells of alarm before he splashed frantically for shore.

Jonathan swallowed down a nervous laugh as he saw the unmistakable ridges to his left and became very conscious of the fact that he was bleeding. He took a breath to calm himself and tried to move at a better pace, hoping the frantic splashes of the people to his right might draw the unwanted attention.

Jess' head bobbed below the surface several times and she spluttered as her nostrils filled with water. She didn't know how to float; hell she didn't know how to swim! When she felt something brush against her side, large and rough and saw the pointed grey ridges, splashed an eerie white beneath the moonlight, she knew she had to move.

The woman floundered pathetically in the water, unable to tread, and unable to properly swim, not that she had the space for long strokes anyway as there were too many people crowded together. There was a small group of four people in front of her, a redheaded woman, a balding man and their two native servants, all arguing as they turned and twisted in the water in alarm.

There was a low roar as the water seemed to rise up in a spontaneous fountain around the group. Jess saw jaws through the tumble of white water- wide, long, powerful, open jaws filled with sharp, deadly teeth. She flinched at the loud sound of the snap that followed and the spray of blood before she was almost engulfed by the wave caused by the crocodile submerging. The beast was gone and the redheaded woman with it as if she had never been there.

"CAROLINE! CAROLINE!" The balding man yelled as he moved through the inky river as if he could find her in the darkness whilst his frightened servants fled in a flurry of kicks and splashes.

Bump. Jess tensed against as her back hit off something. She was almost afraid to look, suddenly as conscious as Jonathan about the fact that she was bleeding. When no jaws of death clamped around her she turned, there was a door. A perfect, magnificent, floating door! She turned to scramble up it, arms wide around its edges as she heaved up like a clumsy seal.

"No you don't! I'm not dying!" She heard the indignant shouts of a man before the hands grasped about her waist and tried to pull her back down.

She rolled to her back and dealt him a vicious kick. He reeled back into the water with a gasp of pain as blood immediately bloomed from his nose. When the water started rippling and churning again around him Jess knew what was going to happen. She threw herself back and up the door as a reptilian face emerged from the ebony depths, green eyes glinting with death as the almost grinning mouth parted.

The man howled out his horror and pain as those powerful jaws clamped down upon his right arm and dragged him down. The force sent the door bobbing back across the waters through screaming people, its passenger numb and oblivious to the crowds.

Four people went for the door at once, all trying to struggle onto it at the same time. Jess felt it sway beneath her and knew they would capsize it and send her tumbling back into the river. She searched desperately for the shore and saw people to the left and the right, both looking so far away. There was Jonathan running through the shallows for the safety of the sand on one side and on another Henderson, out, hat still on as he looked to the boat in frustration. Hadn't he jumped after her? How had he made it already?

Jess stood up, legs shaking, knowing it was a mad move and she had only seconds to carry it out. She needed the extra momentum, it might get her close enough, yet the splash could attract a lot of attention. To hell with it, these people were going to make her get wet again regardless. Jess bent her knees, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists to the pain, and then she jumped. Hard, fast and out with as much force as she could muster.

She hit the water with a loud, inept splash, landing near Beni who cursed to the heavens as he was freshly soaked. He grabbed the girl's shirt collar in a moment of rage and shook her hard, unwittingly dragging her up from drowning. "You fool!" he cursed at her. "You mad fool! Why did you do that?!" He released her just as fast before kicking frantically, sending several fresh splashes of water into her face.

Jess spluttered and tumbled in the water trying to right herself but she was tired and dizzy and her head kept dipping below the surface too many times. She turned and glimpsed ridges again, this time a wide row of them all heading in her direction. The snout came out, ugly and yet beautiful in a way, and two black slits focused in on her. It went to propel itself forward, to snap at her in a quick and powerful movement but then the gunfire came.

BANG! BANG! The shots were wild, it was too dark to aim right and the shooters' hands were slick with the water. BANG! BANG! One hit the leathery armour whilst another struck close to an eye. It had the desired effect, the beast turned in a moment of pain and fury, hitting Jess hard with its tail instead, sending her careening back to the shore.

Daniels and Burns didn't know whose bullets had done the work. Both just shared a glimpse of surprise before they continued swimming for the shore. Burns hesitated again, they were almost in the shallows, the tips of feet could feel the ever changing sand beneath them, almost safe but not quite. The woman wasn't swimming though, rather twisting and turning and gurgling like a fish with one fin. He dismissed it as hysteria, a lot of people in the river were suffering it, they had shot at the crocodile, the rest she would have to do.

Daniels bounded up out of the water inelegantly, pausing and turning back. He spied Jess and shook his head in despair. "KICK YOU DAFT WOMAN!" he yelled at her in a moment of rage. She was not going to drown or get eaten now meaning he had wasted his damn bullets! "KICK!"

Jess heard the words, Richard's ever constant advice, 'you never kick enough Jess, kick, kick!' So she did even though it made her ankle burn with the strain and her muscles cry out in pain, she kicked.

Burns finally bounded out too, looking down at his damp clothes despairingly. He plucked off his hat and emptied it off water with a murmured curse. Pointless, his whole outfit was ruined, and yet he put the still soaked hat back on anyway.

Beni staggered out triumphantly, looking to the horses Henderson had thought to grab with a satisfied grin before he turned to face the opposite side of the river. O'Connell, Jonathan, Evelyn and the prison warden stood there trying to ring out their own clothes. Only Evelyn still looked good, her white nightdress tight around her enviable curves and more than a little translucent with the water. It was a fact not lost on Henderson or Daniels who had both got a generous look at the beautiful brunette when in the water. Even now Daniels glanced across the river wondering if she was close enough to see her more womanly aspects.

"Hey O'Connell!" Beni shrieked across the river. "Looks to me like we got all the horses!"

"Hey Beni! Looks to me like you're on the wrong side of the river!" O'Connell roared back.

Beni looked about him and let out several curses in Egyptian and Hungarian as Jess finally staggered to the shore. Jess looked to him warily, so the snake knew O'Connell too was that the coincidence explained? Two guides to Hamunaptra, how could these two polar opposites both be connected to the city of the dead? 'The wrong side of the river,' she thought numbly, 'I swam to the wrong bloody side.' She cast a wary look across the river, frowning at the man standing with O'Connell, Jonathan and a woman, it was hard to make him out in the darkness but she was so certain she recognised that portly form.

Her satchel and sickle were gone, all that was left were the clothes on her back and a few trinkets kept in a hidden pocket inside her mustard vest, including one stolen from Daniels. She coughed up another mouthful of water before hugging her mustard top close but not before Beni glimpsed her all too see-through shirt.

She gave the Hungarian an ugly look when she caught him gawking, prompting a frown out of him as he recognised her as the woman who had almost gotten him killed in the river. "What the hell were you doing on a river when you can't swim?" he demanded angrily.

"Well that would be the point of the boat," she answered dryly as she rung out her hair, "so I don't have to swim."

* * *

 _I used some dialogue from the movie here because it's great, I know there are already a lot of retelling fics on here but I couldn't resist though I do intend to put my own spin on events with my OC Jess, so there's a lot of new stuff here for people to read plus it's definitely going to be more about the Americans because they're awesome! I've seen Henderson credited as Isaac and Christopher on Wikipedia though I don't know where they're getting that from but since it's David Daniels and Bernard Burns I really felt it should be Henry Henderson :-)_

 _As always thanks for the favs etc and please read and review, I really do appreciate it!_


	3. Chapter 3- In the Ruins of the Dead

Morning had only broken across the desert and yet the air already burned. The sky was a soft milky blue, with hues of violet and pink at the horizon as the golden white sun started its slow ascent turning the blue shadows of the dunes to brown and then to gold. It might have been a pleasant sight were it not the third time they were seeing it, never mind the heat and the smell. When you travelled with twenty men in such a close cluster and no one had bathed properly for three days there tended to be an unpleasant odour.

When his horse's left hoof narrowly avoided a bleached white skull half-buried in the sand Beni Gabor was almost relieved. The sight of bones meant they had almost arrived at their destination and he was closer to both being rich and relieved of his unpleasant job as guide to American treasure hunters. He felt a prickle of foreboding as the number of skeletons grew and thought nervously, 'I don't remember there being so many.'

"What in the hell happened here?" Daniels queried gruffly as he gave the bones a brief look of displeasure.

"Seekers of Hamunaptra," Beni explained.

"All of them?" Dr. Chamberlain queried dubiously. "I doubt that very much. How could so many know the way to a fabled city?"

Beni sighed, muttering a curse under his breath before he turned to smile back at the Egyptologist. "Perhaps lost treasure hunters too, careless in the desert and left to die of thirst."

"Obviously they didn't have the wit to pay their guides only half until they made it home again," Daniels commented darkly as he gave Beni a warning look.

Beni gave an awkward laugh in answer. "Perhaps," he mused. "It is a good sign though because it means we are near."

"So close to Hamunaptra and yet so far," Burns muttered to the skeletons pityingly.

They had abandoned the river three days and two nights ago, hastening off with what possessions they could salvage all too aware that O'Connell and his party had also hurried off. It was good fortune that most of their hired help of Egyptians had survived the river to accompany them, and even better fortune that they had enough horses. They had been forced to stop briefly at a trading post to buy some more supplies, tents and digging tools, an irritating delay but a necessary one. It had only been for a couple of hours, made all the speedier thanks to Dr. Chamberlain being able to communicate with the traders and, eventually, persuade them into taking soggy dollars as currency along with what little native coin had survived the river. Unknown to them it had been this delay that had given Jess the crucial time she had needed to catch up to them.

Jess had been left with the other travellers to wait for help. She had been determined to follow instantly but Beni's eyes were too sharp on her and she had no horse, so they had bolted from the river before the dark dawn leaving her in despair and a great disadvantage but not hopeless. Yes they had been quick but they had a party of over twenty men and getting them gathered together and moving had still taken time. It had been enough time for Jess to converse with one of their helpers, offering some coin for information with the promise of more for further help. Not one for admitting defeat and suffering a desperation none of them could understand, Jess had resolved to begin her pursuit immediately after, following the trail left by the native helper.

She had moved on foot for a while which had been both exhausting and disastrous before she had finally bartered for a mule at the trading post. She had paid for the mule hastily with coins picked from the pockets of nearby traders and merchants. She had also managed to pluck the glass shards from her leg with a pair of steel tweezers secreted in her vest's pocket, and bandaged the wound hastily with a scrap of cloth.

Now she rode in the Americans' dust, there were no horse tracks to follow as the winds shifted the sands too hastily, dunes forming and dying in a matter of hours. Instead Jess followed the cloth snared on dead branches, the more unpleasant but still partially exposed horse dung, and the sparse clues her paid helper had carelessly left. She knew it was half-hearted at best, if she caught up it meant coin for him but potential complications too, and a large part of him probably hoped she would simply get lost in the desert and die. It was the greedy side of the man keeping Jess alive and she knew it and she knew he knew it too; one flick of fear or fickle decision that the woman wasn't worth the gold or she was lying about it and that could be the end of her.

She felt a prickle of relief when she finally spied them ahead- a small, confused cluster waiting for something but what? Her golden-brown eyes narrowed as she moved round the curve of the dune and spied another party as well, O'Connell's party. They were also waiting calmly but what for? She considered her options- hang back and give chase when it was safe, or abandon secrecy and expose herself? It wasn't like they could lose her now but they could make things decidedly difficult at the city of the dead. She sighed and hung back, rubbing some of the sweat drops from her face.

"What the hell are we doing?" Daniels demanded impatiently. He was thoroughly fed up now, they had been travelling in the desert for days suffering unbearably hot days and unnaturally cold nights and they didn't seem to be making any kind of progress. Now here was O'Connell's group, they were neck and neck again. Daniels thought of the five hundred dollars he no longer had thanks to an unexpected dip in the river and frowned.

"Patience," Beni said through a fixed smile as he and O'Connell both looked to the horizon with a serious stare.

Dr. Chamberlain shifted on his mule awkwardly, struggling to keep his open umbrella upright as he did. If ever a man was not designed for riding Allen Chamberlain was that man, something that seemed to hold no end of amusement for cowboy Henderson who seemed born to ride.

"Five hundred O'Connell, first one to the city, remember that!" Henderson called over cockily.

"A hundred of them bucks is yours if you help us win that bet," Daniels addressed Beni pointedly.

Beni, who was just in front of the Americans, rolled his eyes and retorted with false sincerity, "oh, my pleasure." Even the thought of money wasn't enough for Beni to be happy about helping Daniels. He was still irritated by the fact that he couldn't abandoned the trio of would be adventurers and their obnoxious Egyptologist in the desert to perish.

"Get ready," Rick addressed Evelyn as he sat upright and gripped his reins tightly.

"For what?" she quipped quietly as she looked up at him curiously.

"We're about to be shown the way," he retorted as he kept his gaze straight ahead.

After that they all fell silent and looked to the horizon with the same keenness. They could all feel it, something stirring out across the sands as the sun continued its slow ascent and burned the sky red. Jess swallowed hard as she felt her heart skip a beat, something was out there. Burns filled with a sense of awe and anticipation whilst Daniels just felt uneasy. Dr. Chamberlain watched tiredly not expecting anything to happen but then it did and his shock was equal to everyone else's. Even Beni and Rick felt a wash of surprise, despite expecting it this time it was no less spectacular.

As the sun rose something started appearing, a shivering image at first, it was a golden mirage until it seemed to solidify as the sun continued to rise. Henderson's mouth parted slightly in awe as he squinted and leaned forward on his horse, not quite daring to believe his own eyes. Daniels bared his teeth as if he didn't know whether to smile or frown at the sight, it was magnificent but it definitely wasn't natural. His bottom lip rose hiding his lower teeth and turning his expression into a frown, what kind of city just appeared from nothing?

"Will ya look at that," Henderson marvelled.

"Can you believe it?" Daniels queried as much in suspicion as surprise.

Burns openly smiled and gasped, "Hamunaptra."

It was a ridge of ruins, sand and stone, like a mountain cut in half with a town or temple crudely shaped around it before being abandoned to time and the desert. The moment the image finally settled everyone snapped out of their trance, remembering that they weren't alone in witnessing this wonder.

The Americans let out several whoops as they urged their horses into a fierce gallop just as Rick kicked his camel on, not to be outdone. Caught in the adrenaline rush Jess urged her mule close to the back of the pack, knowing the animal was not designed for racing. Much as she would have liked the thrill there was just no point in wearing the poor animal out plus she didn't want to be noticed just yet if she didn't have to be.

Rick rode his camel hard feeling his competitive nature rise again, his fatigue and the heat forgotten as he got closer and closer to his fellow Americans. WHACK! He winced as his left shoulder immediately stung with the force of Beni's crop.

"Beni you asshole," Rick grumbled as the Hungarian leaned over his horse and started whipping at Rick repeatedly.

Rick felt his camel give a grunt of irritation beneath him, jerking as Rick tried to urge the beast to the right and away from Beni. Beni's horse closed the gap just as quick and the assault came again. Rick, in a moment of anger, leaned out and grasped Beni tightly by his collar. "See you Beni," he remarked moodily before yanking down causing the man to go falling to the desert.

Beni's horse gave a whinny of irritation, moving too close to Rick's camel, which turned and spat at the horse viciously, slowing its pace to express its anger.

"Serves you right," Evelyn called down to the fallen Hungarian as he tumbled through the sand.

Jonathan let out a curse as his own camel came to a sudden halt as Beni rolled in front of it. The camel let out a cry of displeasure and almost threw Jonathan off. He jerked it to the right, muttering curses at Rick's folly, which forced the prison warden to turn his own beast quickly as Jonathan's camel suddenly blocked its path.

Daniels looked back and let out a laugh at the sight. Good enough seeing that rat Beni on the ground but even better seeing O'Connell's party delayed by the bickering. Whilst he was looking back he missed Evelyn sneaking up his left side and only when she had passed him did he hear her voice calling out jovially, "hut, hut! Hut, hut!" Daniels let out a curse and kicked his dapple grey stallion hard, damned if he was going to be beaten by a woman. "Guys pick it up!" he shouted to Burns and Henderson.

As Beni stood Jess' mule let out a low bray as it too swerved to avoid the cursing man. As he spluttered out sand and swears the Hungarian's beady eyes narrowed as he looked at the unfamiliar brown mule. He saw the wild golden-brown hair and his frown deepened before the sand flying up impaired his vision.

"You go Evie!" Jonathan yelled out passionately as he saw his sister ride on past Daniels.

Evelyn had never felt so alive, the sensation of being part of a race was quite exhilarating and now that she had gotten used to the camel's size and mannerisms she actually felt confident as it reached an astonishing speed at her command. Even as she wavered slightly as it bumped hard over small dunes she couldn't help revealing a wide, glorious smile as she passed Burns and then Henderson.

Henderson knew he should be annoyed but it was hard not to admire the woman as she hastened past him. She looked beautiful on the camel and definitely in charge, one hand holding her dark curls and the other clutching the reins as she continued to shout the camel on confidently. He was fixated on her appealing form as she hurried on just three paces in front, a lead he should have been able to retake and yet he was just too distracted by her surprising ability to ride to try.

"Damn it Henry!" Daniels cursed him out. "You can take her! Get a move on! I don't have five hundred bloody dollars to lose!"

Henderson ignored his friend as he watched Evelyn seize a victory as her camel reached the ruins at last. He should have been furious to lose to a woman, he knew it, but damn what a woman to lose to. Instead the blonde simply shook his head and gave Evelyn the gracious smile of a loser. "Congratulations," he praised her in his thick Texan accent.

Burns slowed his horse as they arrived and looked around in silent awe. There were arches, broken columns, worn statues and the temple itself, a grand sight now he could only wonder how magnificent they must have been in their day.

Rick frowned at the ever watching image of Anubis, the tallest statue in the place, it stood near the entrance of the site warning rather than welcoming. The jackal head seemed to grin at him morbidly as if laughing at his bold return. He dismounted from his camel and walked past it quickly, hiding his unease. Even under the bright morning sun he still felt the dark shadows of the place. Worse, as he moved he started to notice the bones wearing tatters of a familiar uniform. His fallen companions were still here, a stark reminder of what he had narrowly escaped.

Seeing Daniels, Rick welcomed the distraction as he gave the grim faced man a wide, mocking smile. "You owe me five hundred dollars!"

"Yeah you'll get it," Daniels snarled back before hastening over to Henderson and dismounting from his horse. "Why the hell did you let her win?" Daniels snapped at his friend.

"I didn't let her do anything Daniels," Henderson retorted calmly. "You think I wanted to lose to a woman on a camel?" he quipped sardonically with a raised golden-blonde eyebrow.

"I think you got distracted," Daniels accused, "and cost me a bet."

Henderson grinned and shrugged. "Don't make bets you can't win yourself Daniels, where were you in the race? Third? Fourth?"

"Guys forget it," Burns injected quickly as he stepped up to his friends to prevent their squaring off, "it's Hamunaptra." He let out a laugh of disbelief as he stared in astonishment at the ancient ruins, noting the detailed carvings of pictures and hieroglyphs that were still somehow intact and legible after all this time. "We're here, we're really here," he said jovially.

Rick led his small party up part of the crumbling mountainside to an almost perfectly preserved rectangular arch on it with Ra's protective wings carved on its top and a statue of the benevolent Bast beneath it. It was enough of a distance from the statues of Anubis for Rick to feel just a tad easier, and it gave them a decent viewpoint.

The Americans settled closer to the main entrance on flatter ground, allowing Dr. Chamberlain to dictate their helpers into setting up their camp. Henderson sat on a crumbled column taking in their surroundings as Beni finally joined them whilst Burns moved about the ruins with intrigue and Daniels helped himself to the contents of a brass flask whilst mumbling curses to himself.

No one noticed the young woman who slinked in across the shadows on foot, crouching and hiding behind the ruins when necessary. She was soft and swift on her feet, well practised at being quiet when necessary. She picked her own site near the pillars with carvings of Osiris and Anubis on them, and a slanted arch with hieroglyphs that told the grim story of judgement by Anubis. The few people who noticed her mule dismissed it as a mount of the Americans' party, save for Beni who stared at it with a frown and searched the cluster of servants with a troubled look, trying to spy one with flaxen hair.

It took less than an hour after arriving at Hamunaptra before everyone found themselves in the labyrinth of a temple, which was part of a forgotten underground city that played host to ancient Egypt's many dead. They had all taken different entrances- the Americans opting for the obvious one, Evelyn guiding her group through a crevice into a room lit with mirrors she had dusted and positioned, and Jess entering through a stone door none of the rest of them had noticed.

Jess' door was on the very outskirts of the ruins, almost not a part of them, it sat in the mountainside, sunken and partially obscured by sand and dust. Too heavy to move, the only way of opening it was with a very peculiar key. A key to lost treasure, it seemed as Jess slotted the gold and ruby star shaped form into place that it was the only lie that Mr. Salih had not told. Jess wondered as she turned it first clockwise then anti-clockwise twice if it was fate or coincidence that the day she should finally get this key she should also find a group going to the city. She had stolen the key with little hope of using it anytime soon, simply seizing a forced opportunity as she knew once the man was hung the trinket would either be buried with him or thieved by a prison guard and lost to her forever.

Once the door opened she finally lit the wooden stick she had salvaged for a torch, fuelling it with a scrap of cloth bound about it until she saw the dusty brass bowl at the entrance, still slick with oil. Surprised but hopeful, she had dipped her torch into the oil before lighting it with matches stolen at the trading post.

She tugged her worn, crimson scarf, another item stolen at the trading post, up over her mouth as the stench of four thousand years of stale air, dust and worse invaded her nostrils. She looked about the small, square chamber with uncertainty, and frowned at the only way out of it and into the temple, down into the darkness. The chamber itself was mostly bare, save for one small, almost crumbled statue sitting in an alcove, lost behind cobwebs and dust. Jess eyed the statue with uncertainty; it was a head sitting beside half-made legs, the rest now dust and pebbles but she recognised it even beneath the silvery webs. An animal no one could identify, almost like a jackal but far stranger, its ears were triangular like a jackal's were depicted only upside down and its muzzle was long at the top and curved down, beaklike nearly, some folk were quick to suggest it was the head of a mule or donkey rather than a canine. It was the set animal, or sha, named for the god who had it for a head, with no counterpart in reality; it seemed to exist only as a representation of Set- the red desert god of violence, storms and foreigners. This statue had no place here in a city sacred to Anubis and yet here it was.

Jess' eyes hardened at the sight, she knew the image of Set all too well, and all it did was strengthen her resolve to continue.

* * *

Evelyn was all smiles as they moved through ruins, the first people to do so in four thousand years! The Bembridge scholars wouldn't reject her after this, hell they would be begging her to come work for them! Though she wouldn't admit it, part of her smile was due to the unexpected gift from Rick. A thoughtful gift too, it was an archaeologist's digging kit, which she now hugged close to her chest in both arms as they walked. It was not something silly like jewellery or mundane like a cheap perfume or, worst of all, flowers! It was a gift Evelyn actually wanted, a gift that proved he had picked up on her interests and cared about them. Too happy with the present the woman never bothered to concern herself with wondering where or when Rick had actually procured the gift for her.

They had just moved out of the preparation room much to warden Gad Hassan's chagrin. "Where's the treasure?" he grumbled.

"Good question," Jonathan murmured. He was relieved to leave the preparation room, especially after his sister's vivid description of the mummification process but he wasn't happy to be entering another dark and foul room that seemed to hold more cobwebs and dust than anything else.

Up ahead was a wall, slanted and half-sunk into the ground bearing numerous carvings of the falcon headed god Horus complete with wings for arms. "Horus," Evelyn murmured as she leaned close to them and beckoned Rick and his torch closer. "Son of the underworld god Osiris and half-brother to Anubis," she explained. She gestured to the hieroglyphs. "A war god but a benevolent one, these ruins indicate him helping to guard something."

They all suddenly tensed as they heard a noise echo from somewhere nearby.

"What was that?" Gad queried, a little too loudly. The portly man had no interest in history or myths and it set his teeth on edge for the woman to delay their treasure hunt with stories. All he wanted was to grab his share of gold and go, back to Cairo to retire in a stately city house with a woman or two.

It came again, like scratching on the wall and a few pebbles bouncing off the ground. "Yes, what was that sound?" Jonathan queried nervously as he looked about the room.

"Sounds like bugs," Rick answered calmly.

"He said bugs," Evelyn informed Gad calmly with a nod.

"Bugs?!" Gad exclaimed as his brown eyes bulged in his round head. "I hate bugs!"

"Shush!" Evelyn scolded him with a glower.

They tensed again and Rick handed his torch to Evelyn before tugging out his two Colts. "Everyone be careful," he said quietly as he put his back to the imagery of Horus. Evelyn lined up beside him and Jonathan stood beside her, tugging out his own gun as Gad surprised them by drawing out a revolver.

"You didn't think I'd be unarmed?" the smelly warden queried with a dirty smile.

"On my lead and quietly," Rick ordered with a stern look thrown back at the warden.

They moved together, inching round the edge of the walls. The noise grew louder as it seemed to be coming towards them, creeping through the darkness. They turned as one, guns out and aimed as they met their foes at the base of a towering statue of Anubis.

Four sweaty, filthy faces looked back at them along with the nozzles of several guns.

"Aw shit," Daniels cursed with a shake of his head.

"You scared the beejezus out of us O'Connell!" Henderson chided as he pushed his hat up slightly with the nozzle of his gun.

The Americans stood side by side with Beni on the end, beside Henderson, frowning at Jonathan. Dr. Chamberlain was cowering behind them, eyes shut and fists clenched tight as if anticipating gunfire, and behind him were their weary, confused and tired looking helpers.

When the gunfire failed to go off Dr. Chamberlain finally opened his eyes, they immediately burned with rage when he spied O'Connell and the others. Burns' eyes suddenly widened and he took an accusing step towards Evelyn, almost oblivious to the guns aimed his way in his anger. "Hey!" he exclaimed. "That's my kit!"

Evelyn looked back at him with genuine surprise as she clutched the archaeologist's kit closer to her chest whilst Rick took a side step, raising his pistol in Burns' face with a glower. "No it ain't," he snapped.

"Er...yeah," Burns said nervously as he shrank back from the gun, "perhaps I was mistaken; maybe it just looks like it."

"Maybe," Rick agreed with a smile as Daniels shook his head in despair at his friend's cowardice. "Have a nice day gentlemen, we have a lot of work to be getting along with."

"Push off!" Dr. Chamberlain snapped at him rudely. "This is our dig site!"

"We got here first," Rick pointed out as they all aimed their guns once more.

"This here's our statue, friend" Daniels answered carefully.

"Yeah, I don't see your name written on it...pal," Rick retorted hotly as he pointed the nozzle of his Colt in Daniels' direction.

"Yes, well, there's only four of you and fifteen of me," Beni chided him with a smug smirk, "your odds are not so good."

"I've had worse, or don't you remember?" Rick retorted savagely as he leered back at his former friend.

"Yes me too," Jonathan chirped up with false bravado as he glowered over at Beni.

The guns clicked nervously as the tension thickened and some of the Egyptian servants reached for their own weapons. Evelyn rolled her eyes in despair, 'boys and their toys,' she thought sardonically. She paused as she felt the dirt shift beneath her and glanced down, there was a tiny crack in the floor, an indication of yet another floor. "Oh for heaven's sake!" she exclaimed. "Let's be nice children," she scorned them all, "if we're going to play together, we must learn to share."

Daniels frowned at her, little liking her chiding whilst Henderson smirked, impressed with her guts, and Burns just looked pointedly at his kit. Burns knew the kit was his, he didn't know how or when it had been swiped but it was definitely his. There was even a faded gold monogram on it- B.B; it had been a gift from his sister. He wanted to snatch it right back but he could feel Rick's cerulean eyes burning into him and knew his head would be blown through before he even raised his hands for the kit.

It was hard for Evelyn to surrender the statue, she knew what was meant to be buried at its feet, supposedly the gold book of Amun-Ra. Perhaps if they went below they could work up to the statue and catch the Americans unaware. It was a risky plan and it meant hoping that the Yankees didn't know about the book, but she doubted they did. She doubted they knew about any specific treasure here, more likely they just had the uneducated belief that ancient ruins meant ancient treasures. They didn't care what the gold represented or what the statues meant, gold was gold, and that was it. She frowned; they would have this place ruined with their reckless desire for treasure, probably smashing priceless artefacts and destroying walls and doors of hieroglyphs forever in the process.

"Come on," she urged Rick as she gripped his left arm gently and dared to give it a consoling squeeze, which she hoped conveyed her optimism rather than defeat.

Rick gave the woman a curious and annoyed look, certain he could win this but then he saw the spark in her eyes and knew the woman had a plan. So he finally lowered his guns, seemingly submitting to the Americans who sneered appropriately, and then he followed after Evelyn.

Daniels' smirk was the widest; he considered a justified victory after their embarrassing defeat getting here. "Now what?" he quipped.

Dr. Chamberlain stepped forward then with a look of importance before he began studying the ancient symbols with intrigue and excitement.

* * *

Jess scowled in frustration when she heard familiar voices up ahead, the Americans and the Egyptologist were yelling furiously at the workers. She must have taken a wrong turn somewhere to end up with them but it was difficult to tell, the place was a maze and truthfully after so long of darkness and silence she was a little relieved to hear the voices. She followed after the voices slowly, cautious of her torch giving her away.

"Feni! Feni!" Dr. Chamberlain yelled.

Jess moved round a corner to a narrow, dark tunnel and followed it, wondering why she couldn't see the flicker of torchlight when the voices sounded so close.

"How long is this going to take?" she heard Daniels grumble. She flinched and glanced to her left, it sounded like he was just there! There was nothing though save the hard stone of the wall.

"As long as it takes Daniels," Henderson chided, "just relax and think of the gold."

"That was my kit," Burns pouted.

"Yeah well why the hell did you stammer that it wasn't?" Daniels snarled at his friend.

Jess frowned and pressed against the cool wall, were the voices coming through the wall? Impossible, they were too loud and the wall too thick. So she pressed on, her nerves growing just a little when she turned another corner and still saw no one.

"Because I didn't want to get shot Daniels," Burns retorted moodily, "because getting shot is stupid."

"We had them outnumbered," Beni chirped up sweetly.

"Bullets ricochet," Henderson grumbled, "we started a gunfire we all coulda got hit."

"You see?" Burns retorted defensively.

"I seen you let a woman walk away with your property," Daniels replied tauntingly.

"It wasn't worth it," Henderson spoke up.

"Well..." Burns sighed. "Katie got it for me, going away present..."

"Shit," Daniels murmured, "I...I'm sorry Bernie."

Jess wondered what exactly they were talking about, 'a woman walk away with property, do they mean me?' She shook her head as she pressed on. 'Nonsense,' she scorned, 'I didn't take anything personal, well except the necklace, but I didn't know, hell it's not him complaining anyway, it's the man with the glasses. Kit? What kit? What woman? These guys can't guard their property too well.'

Her eyes widened when she reached a statue, carved from obsidian it was of the god Set in full royal Egyptian regalia and armed with a spear in one hand and a sword in the other. Jess let out several expletives, it was the exact same statue she had seen twenty minutes ago and walked away from, how in the hell could she be back to it? How could she hear the Americans? She hadn't moved in circles, she had been careful not to double back on herself, very careful. She frowned and pressed a hand against three nicks in the wall, nicks made from a crude dagger she had found in one chamber that resembled a war room, which made no sense in a city for bodies. She had circled back but how?

"Bastard," she cursed up at the god boldly with a glower, "ugly bastard. This won't stop me."

She tensed at the screams that suddenly filled the tunnel, almost deafening in her ears.

"Oh shit! What happened to their faces?" Daniels yelled, losing his composure in a rare moment.

"This place is cursed!" Beni shrieked.

Jess turned sharply as she heard footsteps behind her, her face turning stark white as she felt the rush of air as if someone had actually run past her and yet she saw no one. As the screams grew louder and seemed to surround her she felt a prickle of fear, which only worsened when the ground beneath her began to shake. She frowned at the cracks that appeared beneath her dusty boots, spreading out like a spider web, and tried to calm herself. 'Move slow,' she told herself, 'slow and easy, it's an old place, that's all.'

The young woman took a tentative step forward and was relieved when nothing happened. She dared to take another, then another, nice and slow. Yes, there was an exit just to the right of the statue, best heading that way.

The floor gave way without warning and Jess let out a bloodcurdling scream as she felt herself falling into blackness. Down and down into the unknown. She let out a gasp of pain when she slammed into hard plaster and started choking as she struggled in the dust cloud to get her lungs working again.

She ached all over and tasted blood from a fresh cut at her lip but she was still alive, that was something. As she blinked back dust she found her eyes rolling up to the hole she had fallen through and spying the malevolent face of the statue of Set looking down upon her mockingly.

She pushed herself up slowly with several winces, her ribs hurt but they mercifully weren't broken, there was a cut on her head dripping blood into her right eye but it didn't seem deep and she had numerous new bruises and scrapes but all in all, nothing serious. She made it to a sitting position just as she heard anxious footsteps. At first she was relieved to see a real person to match the steps to this time but her eyes filled with hate when she realised who the person was. 'Impossible!' she thought as she glowered at him and clenched her fists, hoping his image would fade away. 'What the hell is he doing here? Is this real?'

It was the warden Gad Hassan who was staring back at Jess with shock. When he saw her tumble of hair as she shook it out and finally pushed herself unsteadily to her feet he realised she was a woman. 'From where?' he wondered. 'And who is she with here?' He took a step towards her and his large bearded mouth turned down into a frown. He knew those fierce golden-brown eyes, it couldn't be though, those eyes belonged to a boy. "Can I assist you?" he offered as he tried to subdue his lecherous smile.

"No," she snarled back heatedly as she rubbed some of the dirt from her face.

"Come now, you took quite a fall." He headed towards her and when she tried to step back she tripped over some debris and fell hard on her rear. "Careful," he chided, "it's dangerous down here. Did you get lost from your party? Who are you?" he pried as he extended down a fat, sweaty palm.

Jess waved the hand away, she would be damned if she took help from him of all people. "No one," she grumbled as she pushed herself back up, biting down a yelp of pain as she did.

"Nonsense," the warden's dark eyes burned with suspicion, "and who are you with?" He pondered over it, she definitely wasn't anyone his party was connected with and there was no way those brash Americans would be laboured with a woman, but there was no one else out here. 'No one to know she's here,' he thought as a few wicked thoughts danced through his mind. "I can help you," he said sweetly, "I know the way out."

Jess continued to frown at him, she was lost, she had to admit that now but she would rather stay that way than take help from him. She sighed and growled, "I don't need your help pig."

He looked at her with shock before it melted into an ugly expression of outrage. "Fine!" he snapped before cursing at her in Egyptian. He turned from her then and hastened on his way. Let her rot then, he didn't care, she wasn't a member of his party.

Jess swallowed down her own curses before following after him as he disappeared round a corner and she suddenly filled with unease. 'Maybe better him than no one,' she thought bitterly. The darkness down here felt heavy as if there was something else in it and she was beginning to believe that becoming lost in here and forgotten was a very real possibility.

She rounded the corner, half-frightened that the warden would be gone and frowned to see him now at a wall, pawing eagerly at some jewelled rocks set in it. "Greedy pig," she grumbled as she looked about the chamber for a way out.

With effort the warden pried the oval shaped jewels out of the wall with a few grunts and his knife. One hit the floor with a low crack and he was quick to bend down and snatch it up, running his finger over it to check for damage. It was smooth and strangely hot but he thought nothing of it as he pocketed it and reached for more.

When two suddenly twitched in his hand he realised in vain that maybe they weren't jewels after all. Curious and fascinated he just stared down at them as they rolled in his fingers and seemed to expand. His golden-brown face turned an unnatural white when he made out a split down their back and the familiar shape of a beetle. "BUGS!" he shrieked as he went to throw them too late. At his voice all the forms remaining in the wall shuddered.

Jess watched in wide eyed horror as the 'jewels' in the wall came to life and leaped from it, springing at the warden with a deliberate violence. She saw one sink into his palm and then another. 'Oh God they're burrowing into his skin!' Her eyes widened as he looked at her and started to scream.

The warden looked down at himself in horror as he felt them there wriggling beneath his skin. It was maddening and agonising, a horrid invasion and he ripped open his sweat stained shirt suddenly to see. Six forms were bulging beneath the flesh and heading up, up to his heart, to his brains. "NO!" He screamed again and started to run.

His hands reached for Jess as she jumped back from him in horror. "HELP ME! HELP ME!" he yelled at her.

Jess turned and started to flee as he chased after her, shrieking on and on. She couldn't run fast, the fall had taken it out of her and her legs ached in pain and protested.

The warden felt the creatures up at his scalp and reached up to them with a howl. It was as the warden started ripping skin from his own skull that Rick and the others arrived.

"What the..." Rick left the curse unsaid as the unfortunate man suddenly collided with a wall and fell down on his back, completely still.

"Oh my God what happened?" Evelyn exclaimed in dismay.

Jonathan's suspicious blue gaze flickered from the man to Jess. "Who are you?" he demanded as he held out his torch.

Jess made to run but she was laboured by her own injuries and though she made it past Evelyn for the exit she wasn't quick enough to avoid Rick's knowing gaze. "Little jackal," he commented wryly with a shake of his head.

"Who?" Jonathan demanded. She had looked familiar; he had definitely seen that face before, he was sure of it.

"What?" Evelyn quipped. "Is he dead?"

Rick looked at the corpse, squinting his eyes to the stench before reeling back in disgust. "Yep."

"And what killed him?" Evelyn queried, trying to hide her unease.

Rick shrugged. "Did you see what he ate? Come on; let's get back to camp for now. We need to find out what that other noise was about."

* * *

The Americans turned to Rick as one, guns out and the same wary looks on their dirt stained faces. Rick held his hands up and gave a disarming smile in response. "Fellas let's not start this again."

"What do you want O'Connell?" Daniels demanded moodily as he kept his gun aimed whilst Burns raised his slightly.

"I want to know what happened in there today," Rick retorted as he gestured to the temple with one hand.

"What concern is it of yours?" Dr. Chamberlain quipped. He sat at the edges of the fire, an open book in his lap and a hookah pipe clutched tightly in his right hand. He would have sat further away if possible but he needed the light and quite frankly desired the safety of the fire.

"We lost a man today," Rick confessed. He paused to survey the faces of the hired labour, mostly in shadow as they looked to him with unease and he took a mental count. "From the looks of it you lost more than one."

"What's your point?" Daniels snarled.

"Ease up Daniels," Henderson chided as he finally lowered his own gun, "let's play nice like Miss Carnahan wanted." He grinned at the sullen look of annoyance his friend gave him. "You tell us what happened to your guy and we'll tell you what happened to ours," the blonde addressed Rick.

Rick sighed as he rested his hands on his hips slightly and looked to the game of poker he had interrupted and Daniels' and Henderson's empty glasses along with the half-empty bottle sitting between them. He guessed that the men were trying quite hard to distract themselves from what had happened today and he wasn't helping. 'I could use a drink myself,' he thought wearily. 'That warden didn't die of nothing.'

"I don't know," he confessed. "Our friend, and I use that term very loosely, warden Hassan left our small group to fill his greedy pockets I suspect. We found him only when the screaming started, just in time to catch his final moments." He thought of the girl, or woman rather, and wondered, not for the first time, if she had anything to do with the warden's death. 'A thief who was briefly imprisoned, she'd have as much a reason as anyone to hate our dearly departed friend,' Rick mused to himself.

"That's it?" Daniels queried doubtfully as he finally lowered his guns.

Rick nodded with a smile. "Yes, pretty much, he ran into a wall and fell down dead."

"Well our guys got their faces melted off, how's that for a story?" Daniels retorted hotly.

"It's not a competition," Burns commented softly. He paled slightly as he recalled how the men had turned to them wailing, accusatory and pleading all at once as they staggered forward, arms outstretched with their skin dripping off their bones like candle wax.

"We made them do it," Henderson murmured darkly as he reached for the bottle and uncorked it.

"We made them do their intended job," Dr. Chamberlain chimed in coldly. "That is what you hired them for Mr. Henderson and better them than us."

"What was their job exactly?" Rick pried.

"Well it wasn't to die," Henderson retorted fiercely as he gave Dr. Chamberlain an ugly look before filling his glass with whiskey, and then grasping Daniels' glass and filling it too. "Drink O'Connell?" he offered as he glanced up at the man. "Share one with your fellow countrymen just this once."

Daniels gave a grunt of displeasure but Henderson ignored it as he reached for another glass, filled it and held it up to Rick.

Rick accepted it with a look of gratitude. "So what were your men doing exactly?"

"Opening something," Burns admitted, "but it was booby trapped, salt acid."

"Ouch."

Daniels frowned at the memory; he didn't think he would ever forget those faces, sunken, bloodied and hateful and those eyes, bright and terrified, sinking into their own skulls. He drained half his glass quickly.

"Another question," Rick said, after taking a gulp from his own glass, "any women with you?"

The trio exchanged a look and a dry laugh. "Women, O'Connell? This ain't a pleasure trip," Henderson mocked. "You got Miss Carnahan over there, what are you looking women for?"

"Because she's too sensible for him," Daniels mocked. He grinned just a little too much at the memory of Evelyn Carnahan in the water, white nightdress tight and damp against her perfect curves. He shook his head scornfully at his own crude thoughts; maybe they had all been in the desert with just men for too long.

Beni, who had lingered back with the labour, almost out of sight, let out his own mocking snort, daring to grin when Rick frowned his way.

"Not what I meant but never mind," Rick said with a smile before he finished his glass and passed it down to Henderson. "Good night gentlemen and pleasant dreams, try not to let the thought of curses and death keep you up too late."

"Ha," Daniels was quick to scorn him, "bullshit."

"You don't believe in that nonsense do you O'Connell?" Henderson quipped.

Rick turned away from them, pausing when the wind let out a low and sudden rattle. "Maybe," he murmured as he continued staring ahead at the now ominous shadows of the ruins, "or maybe it's just the weather." Rick left them at that, hastening up to his own camp.

He was wary as he walked under the black shadows of columns, arches and statues, feeling like Anubis' eternal gaze was always upon him as he did. He paused to look around, wondering if there was anyone or anything else watching from the shadows. Feeling a prickle of unease he made himself hurry up to the campsite. He was not a superstitious or cowardly man, quite the opposite in fact but something about this place just made him feel out of sorts. There was something here, something other than treasure, bones and ruins, something older, something evil, yes it was evil, much as he didn't want to believe it he couldn't help himself.

When he reached the campsite Evelyn and Jonathan looked up at him curiously. "Our American friends had their own misadventure today," Rick informed them as he took a seat before the fire and close to Evelyn. "They lost three of their diggers to salt acid; they tripped some ancient booby trap apparently."

"How awful," Evelyn murmured.

"Maybe this place is cursed," Jonathan said quietly as he glanced about their campsite warily. "And what about that girl?"

Rick shrugged as he sagged back slightly in the sand. "She's not with them."

"Well I shouldn't think so," Evelyn remarked, "she might be scruffy but they're brutes, what woman in her right mind would travel with them?"

"What woman in her right mind would come to a lost city of the dead in the middle of the desert?" Rick pondered sardonically.

"Apparently two," Jonathan murmured as he started to busy himself with the bags he had procured from the late warden's section of the campsite. "Actually, scratch that because you're right O'Connell, they couldn't be in their right minds."

"Oh really Jonathan," Evelyn chided as she glowered across at him through the flickering amber flames. "And you Mr. O'Connell, she could be lost, part of another party that came here or-"

"Or not," Rick interrupted as he looked over at Evelyn reassuringly. 'She really does look lovely in the firelight,' he thought to himself admiringly. "She's not lost Evie, no more than us."

"Well how did she get here?" Jonathan demanded as he continued nosing.

"She was on the boat," Rick admitted.

"What?" Evelyn and Jonathan exclaimed together before looking to Rick with surprise.

"Well come on man, who is she?" Jonathan demanded. 'I knew I recognised her face, but I don't remember her on the boat,' he thought to himself with a puzzled look.

"I don't know," Rick confessed, "but I intend to find out."

"Jonathan it's disrespectful rummaging through a dead man's property you know," Evelyn scolded her brother.

"Why? He's not going to need it now," Jonathan grumbled as he opened a pouch. "Do you think that woman killed him?" He let out an inappropriate laugh. "Wonder what he did to her if she did, probably breathed too heavily near her one day."

The Englishman suddenly let out a gasp of pain causing Evelyn's jewel like eyes to widen in alarm. He pulled out a bloody finger and sucked on it with a look of annoyance. "Jonathan," Evelyn chided even as she sagged in relief.

"Broken glass," the Englishman grumbled before his cerulean eyes widened with joy. "Ah and an intact bottle!" He tugged out said green bottle with a grin. "Good vintage too, hmm so the smelly fellow had some taste then."

"Robbing the dead and then talking ill of them, Evie your brother is quite the catch," Rick jested to Evelyn with a grin.

"Indeed, I fail to understand why he's still single," Evelyn grumbled as Jonathan opened the bottle.

Rick suddenly tensed and glanced over his shoulder curiously. He could hear something out in the darkness. He strained to listen and then frowned as it seemed to get closer, hoof beats. He tugged out his pistols and jumped to his feet as the unmistakable sound of gunfire echoed around the ruins. "Stay here!" he snapped before bolting off.


	4. Chapter 4- Guns and Gold

Jess knew she should ignore the commotion and let the others deal with it. She was safe where she was after all and completely unseen but then she heard the screams of men in pain and worse, men dying, and knew she couldn't ignore it. So she found herself clambering down from the slanted arch she had taken for a bed and scurrying up to the Americans' camp where all hell had broken loose.

'You're being a fool,' she scolded herself, dagger out in her right hand and ready, 'they have guns but if everyone dies and you're the only left...' She shuddered, that was cutting far too close to home. 'I can't let it happen again,' she thought firmly as she pushed on.

There were the men who had been on the boat, black robes, hoods, kilts and tops, tattooed faces, horses, swords, and guns. They rode through both camp sites with loud, fearless war cries, shooting rifles and pistols and swinging their scimitars. Jess watched as Jonathan ran for it, gun in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other, clutching both tightly as he leaped over a broken column and only just saved himself from a beheading.

The woman shook her head scornfully as she thought, 'wine in hand, the man certainly has his priorities in order.' She scanned the campsite quickly, no O'Connell or the sister, Evelyn, but was that O'Connell's gunnysack? Jess ducked and moved, dancing through a few stray gunshots as she did.

The yells of the men and whinnying of their horses was almost deafening. She feinted to the left to avoid a horse, ducked to escape a scimitar, and then skidded low to the ground to avoid another and slide under a horse. Her dagger went up, slashing mercilessly at its grey belly before she rolled out from under as the horse went wild with pain. She reached the gunnysack and snatched out a gun without thinking.

There was a yell behind the woman, she turned, and with no time to dodge she threw herself to the ground to avoid the sword. She barely had time to move before a black horse came at her next, nostrils flared, brown eyes wide, and flank flecked with foam and its cloaked, mad eyed rider ready to shoot. BANG! BANG! She rolled again and again, her face getting coated in dust and dirt as she did. No time to check the gun, she would just have to hope and run for it.

Up on her feet she moved as quickly as she could, she was still sore from her earlier tumble in the temple but nothing was sprained or broken and with that knowledge she pushed herself on. On to the next camp, which was encircled by riders pacing about repetitively as they let off gunshots and let out loud shrieks into the night.

Jess arrived to see the Americans having just hastened from their tents to stand side by side, guns out and ready despite their looks of surprise. Burns' glasses were wonky, evidently put on in haste and he had shaving foam around his chin and only one gun in his possession. Henderson was only wearing his shirt, now loose and half-unbuttoned, and his trousers. Dr. Chamberlain raced towards them with a yell of alarm as they lined up side by side and started shooting back.

BANG! Daniels let out a shriek of pain as a bullet cut cleanly through his left arm. He spun back with the impact and his gun hit the sand carelessly as his arm burned with pain. Burns immediately grabbed him by his upper shoulder and attempted to right him as he tried to look from their attackers to his friend to assess the damage.

"You hit Daniels?!" Henderson yelled as he kept both his guns up and shooting.

"I'm hit but I'll live!" Daniels snapped as he kept shooting back angrily.

Jess and Rick joined the fray together, Rick shooting back with a deadly aim as three poor Arab workers were shot down dead. Rick shot one assailant cleanly through the chest causing him to fall back dead in his saddle. Jess for her part just pointed and shot, she had used a gun before but had little experience with them and was just hoping for the best at this point.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

They were everywhere! The awful sounds of gunfire, shrieks of war, pain and death, and the whinnying of horses came from all directions, a never ceasing tirade of noise. Daniels, Henderson and Burns took out several of the sable cloaked men whilst Dr. Chamberlain cowered around them, lifting his coat up before his face with both hands as if it could shield him. Beni was nowhere to be seen unsurprisingly and Evelyn was hanging back swinging a torch in desperation.

A brown horse charged at the Americans forcing their separation. Burns turned and fired shots at it as he fell backwards whilst Henderson just forced himself to keep both guns up and aimed.

Daniels staggered back, cursing as his arm stung again before he raised his gun to the man on a reddish-brown horse that towered over him. He found himself looking into a rifle barrel as he went to fire. Click. Daniels' sapphire stare turned to horror as he realised he was out of bullets.

The robed man suddenly gave a gargled cry and his rifle slid down as he seemed to twitch uneasily on his horse. For a moment Daniels was confused before he saw the reason why, there was a hilt of a dagger sticking out of the man's neck. Daniels dared to look to the right where the dagger had come from, his eyes widening again as he saw a woman he was certain he had thrown from a boat into the Nile. When the horse reared in frustration and Daniels saw that he was about to be trampled he moved, running to the left.

"Now let's not do anything hasty!" Jonathan stammered as he found himself cornered against a wall. He waved his pistol about frantically at the four riders who had him trapped.

"Jonathan!" Evelyn yelled as she threw her torch dramatically. To her astonishment it successfully hit the rider in the centre and within seconds he was howling as his robes went up in flames.

"Good show Evie!" Jonathan cried out jovially as the poor horse below the fire broke into a panic and started rearing and bucking frantically.

BANG! Jonathan shot another rider in the right arm before making a run for it.

Jess was running now too, trying to move quicker than a white mare with a rider who was swinging a scimitar at her. She jumped over debris and then onto a fallen column and over it, straight into the path of three horseless men. Two had their faces hidden by black cloth whilst the other had his face bare but coated in black tattoos of ancient Egyptian writing. Jess swallowed hard as the bare faced man calmly sank his blade into the skull of an Egyptian aide fallen before him.

The woman looked for an exit but there was none, save for a narrow gap between two of them. She could hear the hooves beating in the sand behind her, dangerously close. She swallowed hard and ran blindly at the men with a scream. A knife swung at her head, and a gun went off close to her left ear immediately deafening in it. She screamed as a torch swung low, catching her left leg and burning through her trouser leg to the flesh of her upper thigh.

The woman fell with the impact, writhing in pain as her leg blistered and bled. The man with the bloodstained blade approached her calmly. She saw him out of the corner of her right eye, blurred thanks to the tears of pain blooming there. 'Get up!' she thought frantically even as her leg bent and twisted involuntarily in pain. 'Get up!' She flinched when he reached her and pressed the tip of his blade to her skull, a tiny prick which she felt briefly before he raised his sword up in both hands. She sucked in a breath but it was hard, the wind had rushed out of her lungs with the sudden pain that flared through her and all her mind could register was the searing agony rushing up her leg.

BANG! The man fell backwards with a look of shock in his brown eyes, his blow undelivered.

Jess glanced up through her teary eyes of pain to look at Daniels, his previously dropped gun now clutched tightly in his right hand. He aimed at the remaining two men with a threatening glower but they ran off before he could make a shot. Jess didn't wait for others to take their place; she forced herself up at last, gritting her teeth to prevent a yelp slipping out. For a moment she stood there, panting hard as the sweat lashed down her body and her leg trembled and throbbed. 'You have to move!' she told herself stubbornly. She hastened off, not quite running but not walking either, as Daniels occupied himself with the next foe.

Rick saw the scimitar of a mounted rider come his way; he moved to the left and only just dodged it, marvelling at how close it was as he heard the air rush past his ear. The rider turned his horse abruptly, ready to attack again as Rick raised both his pistols with a vicious look. The rider frowned and pulled his mount to a sudden halt. "ENOUGH!" he bellowed. His voice seemed to echo through the ruins, young and yet full of authority.

Rick stared up at him warily; he was a golden skinned man somewhere in his thirties with a neatly trimmed black moustache and beard, tattoos on his cheeks and forehead, and black curls spilling down from his ebony hood. There was a fierce commanding look in his deep, dark chocolate brown eyes as he looked down at Rick sternly.

"There has been enough bloodshed!" the man snapped.

As he yelled the other riders began to quieten, ceasing their attack on the Americans and their helpers, and soon the only sound was the crackle of the torches, the moans of the injured, and the whimpers of Dr. Chamberlain who had, against all the odds, managed to beat back several opponents with his umbrella.

"You must leave this place! Leave this place or die!" the man shouted down at Rick as his eyes filled with the flames of the torches. "We will give you one day!"

Before Rick could retort or even question the man he drew his horse up into a rear, turned the beast and galloped off into the night followed by the rest of his hooded companions. Rick let out a curse as they departed before searching for Evelyn, he had seen her in the ruckus, of course the foolish woman had followed him. He spied her near her brother in the shade of a broken statue of Anubis, her cheeks smudged with dirt and a sheen of sweat along her brow. Jonathan was half-sitting against the statue and busying himself with downing the contents of the wine bottle. Rick rushed to the pair, and surprised Evelyn by gripping her by both shoulders tenderly before he queried softly, "are you alright?"

Evelyn gazed up at him, startled, and for a moment their eyes locked before she stammered with a blush, "yes...fine. Who were they?" She held his stare, her curiosity and alarm suddenly seeming so minor compared to this moment. He was so close she could feel his breath hot on her cheeks like the desert wind.

"See that proves it!" Daniels cried out triumphantly, interrupting Evelyn and Rick's moment as he waved off Burns' look of concern. "Old Seti's fortune has to be under this sand!"

Burns frowned at the blood dripping down his friend's left arm; most of the grey sleeve had now turned a dark, damp crimson. "David that looks bad," he said worriedly.

"Those men are a desert people," Rick murmured as he glanced over at Daniels, "they value water, not gold." He stared out to where the horses had headed but there was no sign of their attackers now.

"I think we should combine camps," Henderson suggested as he gave the bodies an unpleasant look. "Safety in numbers and all that."

"Seems sensible," Evelyn voiced her approval.

"Alright," Rick said. He slapped Jonathan's shoulder with one hand and gripped it tight. "Before you get too drunk Jonathan help us move," he suggested as he gave the Englishman a warning gaze.

Jonathan lowered the bottle with a reluctant sigh and nodded. "Alright but we're not sleeping near the er...carnage." He glanced about curiously as he only just swallowed down a hiccup. "Just a sec...where's that wild woman? Oh lord she didn't get shot did she?"

"Wild woman?" Henderson queried inquisitively as he dusted his cream shirt down. "You don't mean your sister do you Jonathan? Because she's right beside you," he concluded with a small smile in Evelyn's direction.

Evelyn gave the blonde an unpleasant look at that whilst Jonathan looked at the cowboy and laughed. "No," he said as he grinned, oblivious to Evelyn's look of displeasure, "the other one."

"What other one?" Henderson quipped as he narrowed his sea blue eyes in suspicion.

"Oh I saw her too," Burns piped up. He was now standing with Daniels, having pushed his soaked shirt sleeve up to inspect his wound. "She was here, fighting with us. I suppose it wouldn't be right leaving her out there, not when it's so dangerous. She looked familiar too..." He frowned momentarily before giving Daniels an accusatory look. "In fact she looked a lot like the girl Daniels here threw off the boat."

"Threw off the boat?!" Jonathan exclaimed with a look of disgust. "Why on earth would you do that?"

"Maybe she annoyed him," Rick answered as he finally spied Beni trying to slink over like he hadn't hidden during the fight.

"Or maybe the situation called for it hmm?" Evelyn remarked sarcastically as her hazel eyes flickered over to Rick almost accusingly.

"She annoyed me," Daniels admitted with a nod that made it clear he felt no guilt over it.

"Wait, the girl from the boat?" Henderson queried. "Nah, why would she be out here?"

"To steal," Beni hissed. "She's a filthy thief from Cairo."

"Now Beni, what makes you say that?" Rick demanded as he gave the Hungarian a suspicious look.

Beni shrugged. "I've seen her around, I didn't realise it at first but she always seems to be around when things go missing."

Jonathan frowned as he continued to wonder why the woman had looked familiar to him, hearing the word thief just made him more suspicious.

"Do you know her?" Henderson demanded as he looked at the Hungarian questioningly.

"No," Beni confessed.

"Does anyone?" Burns pondered aloud. "Who is she here with and why is she here?"

"Questions I'd love to ask her," Rick mused.

"I think we should just find her," Evelyn murmured as she rubbed her hands up and down her arms, "it's getting cold and it's not safe. I wouldn't want anyone to be out there alone."

"I agree," Burns spoke up.

"We have no idea who she is," Daniels protested with an angry look at his friend as he tugged his wounded arm free. He didn't bother mentioning that he knew the woman, whoever she was, was injured. Let her stay out there away from them, he'd seen her fight twice now and it wasn't normal, he didn't really want her nearby. He didn't even really want their camps united but he had to admit that it was the sensible thing to do.

"David it doesn't matter," Burns argued as he pushed his glasses up the ridge of his nose and looked at his friend seriously. "She's a woman alone in the city of the dead and there are armed bandits out there."

"Um not bandits," Rick argued. He had the grace to look apologetic when Burns glowered his way. "Sorry, just, they're nomads."

"Armed nomads, who want to kill us," Burns remarked pointedly, "and she helped us fight them so I don't think she's one of them somehow. She helped you David," he pointed out.

Daniels' frown deepened at that reminder. "I helped her too," he grumbled. "Fine, go look for her then."

"I will," Rick said.

"I'll go with you," Henderson offered. "Sort your arm out Daniels and then get everyone moving camp."

Rick lifted a fresh torch and he and Henderson headed round the ruins to look for the woman. Henderson walked with both guns out, tensing at every noise- rocks moving under foot, the low rattle of an unusual breeze, bones creaking in the sands, birds calling from far away, and the remaining camels and horses nervously grunting and braying.

"It's all turned a little foreboding all of a sudden," the blonde mused cheerfully with a small smile.

"Yeah, almost like something doesn't want us here," Rick retorted darkly as they paused at a stone arch. Rick sighed as he glanced about, he couldn't see any sign of the woman.

"There," Henderson said as he gestured forward with his left hand to a column.

Rick held the torch forward; there was a sticky stain of red on the column. "She was here," he mused as he looked up to the slanted horizontal bar of the arch above them.

"Tried to climb up," Henderson guessed, "but couldn't because she's injured."

Rick sighed as he swung the torch low near a cluster of rocks. "Now where is she hiding?" he queried wearily.

Back with the others Burns had just finished bandaging up Daniels' arm in a half-broken tent. Daniels had spent the time cross-legged, quiet and drinking heavily from a bottle of bourbon, seemingly determined to catch up to Jonathan who was singing quite merrily as he helped carrying camp items up the mountainside to a flat area where there were thankfully no bodies.

"it's done," Burns said at last as he leaned back and mopped a trickle of sweat from his brow, "you're lucky the bullet went straight through."

"Sure," Daniels grumbled as he shrugged his arm with a wince and sat down the bottle. "Thanks Burns. I need to take a leak, see you in a bit." He stood up with a slight stagger and headed out of the tent and into the night.

Burns stood up and hastened out after him, pausing as he watched his friend stumble over rocks, bones, fallen tents, and bodies awkwardly. Daniels wobbled twice, even grasping the top of a tent once for support before he continued on until he was out of sight behind a statue of Anubis. Burns frowned, he supposed the man wanted his privacy and he had reloaded his guns but still, away from company and the fires just seemed like asking for trouble.

Daniels chose a secluded spot at the back of the Anubis statue and made a point of turning towards it before he struggled to unbutton his trousers. "Ah shit," he cursed as he found the task a lot more difficult when his left arm wouldn't bend properly.

When the man started his task he glanced about suspiciously, it was quiet out here, too quiet but he supposed all the gunshots had undoubtedly scared the wildlife away. He frowned when he spied a couple of blood spatters on the ground, visible thanks to the moonlight catching on them. He followed them and his indigo eyes went wide at the sight of a face staring right back at him from under a broken column resting on rocks. He cursed as he was forced to abandon his aim to grab his gun. He faltered as he raised it when the form smiled back mischievously and he realised who it was. "You!" he snarled it accusingly.

"Me," the woman retorted back tiredly. She was seated against the side of a crumbled platform the column had collapsed against, her legs stretched out in front of her as she sagged in her shoulders.

"What the hell are you doing out here? People are out looking for you, you know!"

She narrowed her golden-brown eyes and queried, "what people? I didn't come here with anyone."

"We know that," he growled, "but after what happened some people didn't think you should be out here alone."

"Some people?" she sneered back. "Not you then?"

He frowned and said with an accusing glower, "I'm wondering how long you've been out here alone spying on all of us, hell never mind here, just how long have you been watching?"

"Don't flatter yourself Mr. Daniels," she mused, "it's not your riches I'm after although..." She looked pointedly at his lower region and he followed her gaze, his face reddening slightly as he did.

"Shit!" He turned round suddenly and let out several more expletives when she giggled.

"You can put away the gun," she murmured, "I'm not a threat."

"No," he retorted moodily as he holstered his gun and buttoned up his trousers. He turned back to face her, eyeing her bloodstained trouser leg pointedly. "That burn looks nasty."

"I'll deal with it," she answered dismissively.

"Well could you deal with it at camp?" he queried tiredly. His arm was still throbbing and he was quite eager to resume drinking whiskey and dull the pain a bit more.

Jess frowned up at the man. "Camp?" she echoed. "So you can all pester me with questions and accusations."

"Lady I don't care much for your business so long as it doesn't affect mine, I just want you to come so people stop wasting their time looking for you and because it's the sensible thing to do. If those desert men come back you can't run this time," he pointed out.

Jess sighed, manoeuvred out from under the column and struggled to her feet with a wince. "I suppose you make a good point," she admitted.

"I know I do, now come on." He led the way back, wondering if some of Burns' concern had rubbed off on him or if he was just that drunk. Daniels stumbled as he led, his boots seemingly finding every rock, hole, bones and debris in their path whilst she limped behind him. "What's your name anyway?" he asked without looking back.

"Jess."

"Just Jess?"

"Just Jess is all you're getting."

"You know my last name," he pointed out.

"I do but you're still not getting mine."

Rick and Henderson looked over in surprise as they arrived back at the new camp in time to see Daniels staggering up to it with the woman limping behind him. She frowned as they all immediately crowded round her.

"You poor thing, you've been burned!" Evelyn was quick to sympathise as she eyed the woman's bloody and partially exposed upper thigh with a mixture of horror and sympathy.

"Poor nothing," Rick scorned as he looked at Jess with a knowing smirk. "What's your name and what are you doing out here?"

"And how did you get here?" Beni demanded with a cross look. "Did you follow us?"

"It was easy," Jess retorted mockingly as she scowled back at him.

"Silly Americans," Jonathan scorned even as he looked to Jess with suspicion.

"Hey it's not like we left her a trail!" Burns protested as he gave Jonathan a cross look.

"You're English," Evelyn marvelled at Jess with a sparkle of interest in her eyes.

"What is with you English and stealing things?" Rick muttered as his gaze flickered from Jess to Jonathan.

"Have we met?" Jonathan queried as he leaned into her with a suspicious, unfocused gaze. "Cause I'm sure you know me."

Jess reeled back slightly from his wine tinged breath. "Do I?" she queried coolly.

Jonathan let out a hiccup. "Yes, wait a minute..." He flushed slightly. "No you are a he, a boy, you are a thief!" He let out another hiccup before clapping a hand over his mouth as he realised what he had said. "Ahem," he added awkwardly as his hand dropped away, "I mean...er nothing, never mind."

Jess folded her arms and frowned at him angrily. "Never mind? What because you can't admit to it?"

"Admit to what?" Evelyn questioned with a nervous look. "Jonathan please tell me this isn't another angry ex lover of yours." She gave Jess a sympathetic smile. "Look I know my brother can be ah...well mean to you women but following him across a desert, it's a bit much isn't it?"

Jess actually turned white at the thought and looked horrified as Henderson snickered. "Hell no, he got me thrown in prison!" Jess blurted out before she could help it. She paused seeing Rick's wide smile and realised her error.

"In prison?" Evelyn queried with a startled look.

"Right!" Jonathan snapped as he pointed at her. "Watch thief! But I didn't know, I mean you wouldn't throw a girl in jail, thought you were a boy."

"Fooled by a hat," Jess grumbled, "typical man, you find it too hard to believe a woman could outfox you so you believe what you want to. And as for that watch it had 'To my dearest Eustace' engraved on it!"

"Oh Jonathan," Evelyn scorned with a roll of her eyes.

"So it had a previous owner, I bought it at a market," Jonathan said defensively as he folded his arms and pouted. "It's still sentimental."

"It wasn't even real silver," Jess commented dejectedly.

"It was too!" Jonathan protested. "He swore ahem...the market seller that is, swore to me that it was."

"Wait a minute," Rick injected, "he," he gestured to Jonathan with one hand, "got you," he gestured back to Jess, "thrown in jail?" He shook his head. "Uh, uh, you're crafty and he's...well he's an idiot, I don't buy it. Unless," he frowned as his brown eyebrows arched slightly, "you wanted arrested! That cell, how did you get out of it so quickly?"

"What cell?" Evelyn demanded. "What's going on here?"

Jess sighed. "Still sore because I left you? Look I couldn't have got you out okay, it was nothing personal!" she snapped defensively.

"Wait, you were in jail too?" Henderson queried calmly as he looked at Rick.

"Shocked?" Rick retorted sarcastically with a wide, white teethed smile.

"Not even a little," Daniels answered with a shake of his head. 'Why did I bring her back here? Why?' he scolded himself internally.

Rick returned his attention to Jess who was scowling up at him. "You were with that old guy...what was his name," Rick pondered with a thoughtful look, "Salih!"

"Salih?" Jonathan queried with a knowing look. "That old git, said he knew where treasure was," Jonathan looked mournful, "but it was just lies. Kept talking about a key, on and on, wouldn't show it though no matter how many drinks I bought him. Said he was going to unlock the door himself or die with the key so no one else could..." He trailed off and looked to Jess suspiciously with everyone else. "The key was true!" Jonathan exclaimed. He frowned as he realised his error. "The rumour was a key! Er...there's a key?"

"That's it," Rick said carefully, "you got yourself arrested to get a key to treasure, but how the hell did you get out of that cell? Hell how did you get into it?"

Jess sighed; she was undone now, careful but apparently not nearly careful enough. Cover blown, it was all out there now, she was exposed as a thief. Well it was no loss, she didn't care much what these particular people thought of her. 'Why the hell did O'Connell have to be in that cell and now here?' she pondered crossly.

"It's easy to get in and out of places when you have a key," she answered smugly.

"How exactly did you get the key to a prison cell?" Evelyn queried with a look of intrigue. She would never admit it but this woman fascinated her. She looked to be of similar age, perhaps a little younger, twenty-four or twenty-five maybe, and she was English but there all similarities ended. The brunette knew she should never show any kind of admiration for a thief but there was something interesting about this story.

"Get close to a guard get close to a key," Jess answered vaguely.

"Wouldn't he have er...reported it missing?" Evelyn ventured weakly, not wanting to know how the woman had gotten close to a guard.

"Not if he wanted to keep all his fingers," Jess retorted with a wide smile.

"So this key that you stole, what does it open and what does any of this have to do with Hamunaptra?" Rick demanded. "And how did you get into that particular cell? Coincidence?" he sneered.

"Here's a question, why did you have the prison warden with you?" Jess demanded. "Are you on day release? No wandering without him huh?"

"Ah yes what about our belated foul friend?" Jonathan quipped curiously. "Did you kill him?" He gave Jess a weak smile. "I'd understand, man was a grotesque pig, I thought about it, especially when he snored."

"Wait you're a thief and a killer?" Henderson queried as he gave the woman a look that was part approval and part concern. "Really?"

"No," Jess answered hotly. She was beginning to feel quite warm and irritated and her skin had turned an odd shade of grey. "I didn't kill him."

"Then what did?" Rick demanded.

She shrugged. "I have no idea, maybe this place is cursed," she suggested lightly.

Rick frowned at her even as Evelyn shook her head dismissively. "You would have a motive you know; I mean he let me out for a price, but you, not so much," Rick remarked.

"Oh please," Jess sneered, "firstly, it was a boy who escaped him and even if he recognised me, which the fat pig did not, there is no way he would admit to it, the shame of letting a woman into a cell never mind out of one again would be a little too much for his reputation. Look I'm so sorry I didn't have to bribe him like you, but that doesn't make me a killer, just a better escape artist than you."

"Alright, I'll admit I don't think you did it," Rick confessed.

"Oh I'm so glad," Jess retorted sarcastically, "a man who was going to hang has pardoned me."

Rick frowned at her whilst Henderson snickered and Burns gave a small, fleeting smile.

"Alright, well what are you doing here?" Rick demanded.

"Yes, thief," Beni spat out, "why are you here? Who are you stealing for?"

"Oh okay, why don't you explain what you're doing here too?" Jess queried Rick angrily. She was now soaked in sweat and had a slight tremor and yet she seemed oblivious to it as she scowled from Rick to Evelyn. "Come on, cards on the table, why don't we all share? What are you after?"

Evelyn's eyes flickered nervously to the quiet, scowling Dr. Chamberlain as she wondered if he had learned about the golden book yet. "Alright," she said hastily, "we don't need details but what's your name? I'm-"

"Evelyn Carnahan," Jess interrupted as she swayed slightly, "and that's your brother Jonathan. I'm still sore about you getting me arrested by the way, nasty thing to do, it was a watch you stole!"

"I thought you were a boy," Jonathan spluttered. "Anyway you wanted arrested, you owe me!"

"How did you get on the boat?" Rick queried suddenly as he narrowed his cerulean eyes at her.

"I had a ticket," she answered calmly.

"Wait a minute," Burns interrupted. "You intended to come here so you had to know we were going to Hamunaptra before that, before we got on that boat. How?"

"You were talking a bit more loudly in that bar than you knew, especially you," she added as she narrowed her eyes at Beni. "Chatty Hungarian," she murmured. "I did enjoy you telling that merchant later how you would've led everyone to the middle of nowhere if they had only paid you in full. I think we're all quite grateful it didn't work that way."

"Rat," Daniels grumbled at the man.

"Lying jackal!" Beni snapped at Jess.

"People call you that a lot," Rick mused as he looked back at Jess. "Didn't the warden call you that too?"

She shrugged and retorted airily, "it's a term of endearment." With those words she fell to the ground with a groan of pain.

"Jackal," Beni hissed again as his eyes narrowed with a heavy suspicion.

"Oh dear!" Evelyn chirped as she kneeled down before the young woman.

"It's her leg," Burns said as he pushed up his glasses and looked at the burn with a frown, "it needs looked at."

"Well...er...is anyone here a doctor?" Evelyn queried awkwardly as she looked at the Egyptologist.

"Not that sort," Dr. Chamberlain answered darkly before he turned his nose up dismissively.

"Itsfine," Jess mumbled deliriously. "Honestly, I'll walk it off tomorrow, it will be grand."

"Did you take Burns' ticket for the boat?" Daniels suddenly demanded as he gave her a vicious look.

Burns looked shocked and then suspicious. "Hey, did you?"

"A little thieving jackal," Beni scorned again.

"I just wanted to see how you'd cope," she murmured. "See what you were made of." She smiled. "Guns and gold, guns and gold, it's always the same."

"That's enough questions for now, don't you think?" Evelyn remarked sharply as she gave them a scorning look. "She needs help with that leg."

"Stupid warden gave me away, stupid, stupid," Jess ranted, "if I hadn't fallen into that hole, could've run quicker if I hadn't fallen. Shouldn't have bloody helped you lot either."

"Look, let's take her to the tent," Burns suggested, his annoyance giving way to sympathy, "I've got some supplies there that might help."

* * *

Jess snapped back into reality at the sounds of the howling. She tensed at the noise; it was loud, constant and close. It sounded like fifty wolves were out there howling, or jackals, it was hard for her to tell. The noise made her nervous and for a moment all she could do was wonder at it before she realised her surroundings had changed.

There was something beneath her head, a flat pillow she realised and an old grey coat had been placed across her. She shifted slightly onto her side, wincing at the pain that flooded up her leg with the gesture. She saw the cream edges of a tent before she looked for the light source. There was a black iron and glass lantern at the opening of the tent seated beside a man who was hunched over, cross legged and staring outwards. He was wearing a grey fedora hat, a dark grey shirt with dark brown stains down the left sleeve, and grey-brown trousers.

Jess sat up slowly drawing the man's attention her way, it was Daniels. Cigarette in his right hand and an uneasy expression in his bloodshot indigo eyes, he gave her a calm, cold stare. "They've been howling for a while now," he murmured tiredly.

"They?" she echoed.

"Jackals," he explained, "can't see them but they're out there. Tried shooting at them but that did nothing, just wasted bullets."

"Oh. Well this place just keeps getting creepier and creepier," she mused. "So why are you here? Why am I?"

"Burns fixed your leg up and we thought it was best not leaving you alone."

"How chivalrous," Jess retorted sardonically. "So you're on guard duty then."

"Something like that," he admitted with a frown.

"From what? The jackals or the thief?"

"Same thing isn't it?" He shot back with an accusing stare. "That's what our guide keeps calling you."

"He's a snake," Jess grumbled. She frowned and looked about the tent nervously as the howls seemed to grow even closer. Her eyes widened as she was certain she saw a silhouette flash past the left side. "Mr. Daniels I know it might seem highly forward of me but could you please close the tent flap?" she queried with a forced calm tone.

Daniels gave her an odd look as he flicked his cigarette out into the night and then tugged out his gun. "Scared?" he queried tauntingly.

"No, just being cautious." She swallowed down a cry of alarm as she was certain another shadow ran past, that one was definitely canine in shape. "Please?"

He sighed and shifted back into the tent properly before setting down his gun and fumbling to fasten the flap. "They're not out there," he said confidently, "and even if they are this is just a bunch of cloth and sticks."

"They're out there," she said assertively.

There was a low snarl and Daniels let out a curse as a black furred head burst into the tent with an open muzzle full of teeth. Jess tried to move forward, looking for a weapon as she did but her leg burned in agony and slowed her. She could only watch in horror as Daniel's right hand darted along the bottom of the tent for his gun whilst he kept his eyes on the snapping teeth. The creature resembled a jackal except he didn't think they were jet black and he was certain their eyes shouldn't be so wide and tinged with red, nor should there be foam coming from their jaws. 'Are they normally so vicious?' he wondered as the creature fought to get inside the half-closed tent, scratching at it with its front paws.

Daniels' hand grasped the familiar steel of his gun at last and he fired without hesitation. BANG! There was a yelp as the animal jerked back as it was shot right between the eyes.

"The light!" Jess yelled as several more jackal silhouettes appeared around the tent and they heard a chorus of snarls.

Daniels fumbled with the tent flap as Jess reached the lantern, and turned down its wick until it burned out just as Daniels closed the flap at last. The pair fell silent as they tried to inch back from the tent door, all the while Daniels wondered if the others were okay.

Jess flinched when they heard a loud snarl and paws pressed against the tent flaps trying to put them in. "Fine time not to have a weapon," she grumbled quietly as she bowed her head.

One seemed to rear up on its hind legs and press its front paws against the front of the tent before raking its claws down. Jess half-expected it to rip and was relieved when the tent mercifully held.

"That ain't normal," Daniels muttered as he kept his gun raised though it was difficult to see.

There was a bark from the right, then a yip from the left, howls from behind and snarls from the front. Jess and Daniels found their heads whipping about frantically in the darkness as they reacted to every sound.

"Why aren't the others shooting?" Daniels wondered aloud.

"Because sometimes that just draws attention," Jess hissed angrily. "Guns and gold, broaden your ideas Mr. Daniels."

"Hey my bullets helped you more than once!" he retorted angrily, raising his voice louder than intended. "And you're a thief remember? You know more about gold than me!"

"Shush!" she snapped as a jackal's burrowed its face into the tent, snapping and snarling as it tried to force its way through.

The torment lasted for another ten minutes and during that time several jackals tried to enter the tent, then, all of a sudden the ruins fell silent and the silhouettes vanished.

"Are they gone?" Jess queried quietly.

"How in the hell should I know?" Daniels grumbled.

The pair both tensed and looked to the front of the tent with wide eyes when it was suddenly yanked open. "Jesus Daniels lower your gun!" Henderson snapped crossly as he met with the nozzle of Daniels' Colt Revolver.

Daniels obeyed as a sigh of relief escaped him before he could help it.

Henderson gave the pair an enquiring look before he grinned at them teasingly. "Now why have you got this flap closed anyway? Didn't I say we'd swap in an hour? You weren't up to something untoward with Miss Jess now, were you David?"

"Shut up Henderson," Daniels snapped hotly.

"Wait, you didn't see them?" Jess demanded with wide eyes as she leaned forward to face Henderson better.

"See what?" the blonde retorted with a confused look.

"The jackals!" she snapped. "They were attacking the tent!"

"Was she having a bad dream?" Henderson queried as he glanced at Daniels. "There were no jackals, not up here. They were howling down there for a bit but that's just the desert for you."

"No," Jess argued with a shake of her head.

Daniels just looked puzzled for a moment as he tried to figure out what was going on. "They were here," he admitted, "they tried to get in here. Did you really not hear them Henry?"

"Nope," the blonde retorted with a shake of his head. "Not a thing, and I haven't heard anyone else complaining. Were you both dreaming?"

Daniels frown deepened. "No Henry," he answered coldly.

"Guess they were hungry," Henderson joked. "Anyway, there's nothing out there, see for yourself."

Daniels' frown deepened as he moved to the tent door as Henderson stepped back. Daniels stood upright and looked about with a puzzled expression as Jess poked her head out.

"There's no blood," she murmured. "But wait," she looked up at Henderson in confusion, "he shot at one, didn't you hear that?"

The blonde shrugged and shook his head. "Them 'gyptian servants are still taking pot shots, I heard gunfire but I figured it was them. Anyway, you're still pale looking and I did promise Miss Carnahan that we'd look after you."

"And who did you promise to keep safe from me?" Jess queried sarcastically.

Henderson barked out a laugh at that before shaking his head. "The good Dr. Chamberlain naturally, Beni, and Jonathan. Miss Carnahan wanted to sit with you but O'Connell says she can't shoot right if those desert folk return so we thought it best to keep you apart. Anyway, go and get some sleep Daniels, I'll watch Miss Jess."

"Jess," she stated calmly.

"Huh?" Henderson blinked at her in confusion.

"Just Jess," Daniels remarked dryly as he continued to glance round the ruins, "she refuses to give up her surname. I assume she comes from a family of criminals."

"Assume away Mr. Daniels," Jess retorted brightly. "Maybe I just don't like you enough to share."

Daniels did not bother with a retort instead he headed wearily to his own tent leaving Henderson to sit down on the edge of the tent and converse with the irritatingly secretive woman.


	5. Chapter 5- Exploring Amongst the Dead

"Cup of tea?"

Jess blinked tiredly at the equally fatigued looking Jonathan before a smile broke out across her face. "We're a thousand miles from England, we lost most of our possessions thanks to a boat raid and we're in the middle of the desert and yet somehow you managed to bring tea," she remarked sardonically with a shake of her head.

"You're English, you should understand," Jonathan retorted with a slightly wounded look before returning his attention to the battered teapot before him. "An Englishman never does without tea," he added proudly as he poured himself a cup.

"Really because up until this morning you did without a teapot and cups," Burns scoffed as he joined them. He paused to look at Jess, a hint of hostility visible in his teal eyes. "The teapot and cups are ours," he informed her as he gave Jonathan a warning look too for good measure.

Jess sighed before pushing down her filthy cream shirt and sitting down on the cream, threadbare rug that Jonathan sat on to protect himself from the hot sand. Jess wasn't eager to sit so close to the man and judging from the look he gave her he was equally happy about it but she was less eager to burn herself on the golden white sands so she made the sacrifice. "I'll have some tea," she decided as she stifled a yawn.

Jonathan poured her a cup and offered it to her with a small smile. "Sorry, no milk or cream out here," he commented brightly. "No China either," he lamented as he looked at the tin cup with a measure of disgust.

"I'll manage," she mused as she accepted the cup and glanced about the ruins. There were no signs of the jackals from last night and after Daniels had left her for his own tent there had been no more noise from them either but for some reason that had just made Jess more uneasy as if they were only in the eye of the storm, not at the end of it.

"Did you sleep well with that leg?" Burns queried as he stared down at her, squinting as the morning sun reflected off his glasses. Despite his misgivings towards the thief he was still concerned for her injury; he wasn't so callous as to wish anyone, even a thief, the misfortune of blood poisoning, infection, amputation, or worse.

"I did," Jess answered calmly as she stared up at him. "Thank you for tending to it," she added sincerely. She took a gulp from her cup before glancing over at the other tents. "Where is everyone?" she asked. She could see an impatient Dr. Chamberlain barking orders at the Arabs and glaring at Beni every so often when the Hungarian tried to make suggestions but there was no sign of anyone else.

"Well some of us had a few drinks last night," Jonathan admitted as he winced slightly and raised his right hand to his temple, "sort of a celebratory thing after getting rid of those desert ruffians."

"Uh huh, and the jackals didn't disturb those celebrations?" Jess quipped as she stared at him curiously. To her Jonathan managed to somehow be both everything an English gentleman should be and everything an Englishman shouldn't be, it was an odd and seemingly impossible way to be and yet he was. He had the style, the voice and the mannerisms of an English gentleman and yet he had the same unsavoury qualities as her, a certain air of poverty, an obvious lack of morals and a glint of devilry in his ovular, blue eyes.

"Jackals? Well yes they were noisy," Jonathan agreed.

"So were you," Burns interrupted rudely, "in fact I think your singing actually scared them away."

"Singing?" Jess echoed with a small smile.

Jonathan gave an embarrassed grin before shrugging and taking a sip of his tea. Though Jess' smile was slightly crooked and stained from the dust and sands of the desert Jonathan still found it slightly appealing, it seemed to brighten her otherwise stern face and add a hint of charm to her dull and dirty features.

They turned hearing a loud groan as Evelyn opened her tent to the morning sun and found her head throbbing in pain as she squinted and immediately shielded her hazel eyes with one hand. Although slightly dishevelled the woman somehow still looked beautiful as she stepped out slowly to the ruins. Her brunette hair hung in loose, brushed waves and her face, whilst wan, was brightened by the excited gleam in her hazel eyes. She was still wearing her black Bedouin dress and though it was now missing some of its silver sequins and was dusty at the bottom it still looked flattering on the young librarian, enhancing her appealing Egyptian heritage.

"Jonathan why didn't you wake me?" she grumbled as she spied her brother and started walking towards him. "It's late, we need to get exploring!"

"Relax Evie, Mr. O'Connell is still in bed," Jonathan said, "and I've made tea." He poured another cup and held it up to his sister with a smile.

Evelyn looked at the cup gratefully as she felt her stomach give a groan and accepted it hastily. Only then did she notice Jess. "Good morning," she greeted cheerfully.

"Morning," Jess retorted with an amicable nod as she placed down her empty cup and stood up.

"Did you sleep well?" Evelyn queried politely.

"Well enough," Jess replied as she brushed herself down before stepping off the rug.

"Oh you don't need to go," Evelyn protested hastily, "I was hoping we could talk, get to know each other."

"That would be nice but then I might miss the head start on all you lot," Jess retorted cheerfully with a sly smile.

"Head start?" Burns repeated as a flash of alarm darted through his eyes. 'She'll probably take our treasure!' he thought in annoyance. His gaze flickered over to Henderson's tent as he scowled, undoubtedly the man was still passed out from drinking last night and he suspected Daniels was in a similar condition.

Jess nodded. "Yes but don't fear Mr. Burns I have no interest in your spot, I have my own to explore." With those parting words the young woman headed off through the ruins, back towards the door she had entered through yesterday.

"Oh good," Jonathan commented sardonically, "the thief is going to be the first one in today."

"Jonathan," Evelyn chided as she watched the woman go, "you're being a tad hypocritical." Jess moved slowly, at an obvious disadvantage as she favoured one leg whilst the other was stiff and she seemed to hop a few times rather than put weight on it.

"I'll only take from those who deserve it," Jonathan commented as he turned his nose up slightly.

Ten minutes later Rick finally emerged from his tent, though tired he seemed happy as he spied Evelyn. 'Does she remember last night?' he wondered curiously. He could still taste her lips on his, one brief, beautiful kiss, it shouldn't still be on his mind but it was, she was. Rick had known many women in his life, he had even thought himself in love many times, it was why he had joined the legion after all, to impress a woman he thought he had loved but now he knew he had been wrong about that. Evelyn was different, Evelyn always seemed to play on his mind and even here in this dark and wicked place things seemed brighter with Evelyn.

"It's about time you got up!" Evelyn snapped crossly as she spied Rick emerging. She stood up and folded her arms with a frown. "You know that other woman has already got a head start?"

"Other woman?" Rick echoed. "The little jackal? Jess?"

Evelyn's frown deepened and she shook her head scornfully. "That nickname is cruel and it seems rude to call her by her first name when we are scarcely acquainted."

"Uh huh and woman is fine?" Rick retorted teasingly with a small grin. "How much of a head start did she get?"

"At least ten minutes," Burns grumbled.

Henderson's curses erupted from his tent, polluting the warm morning air as he was nudged awake by some anxious servants sent in by an impatient Dr. Chamberlain.

"Well she needed it," Rick mused with little concern. "She can't walk fast with that leg so if she hadn't left before us it would have been no trouble to follow her and finally learn what she's up to."

"And would we have followed?" Evelyn queried with a curious look. "Does it matter what she's up to? Surely these ruins are big enough for all of us."

It was at these words that Henderson and Daniels finally exited their tents, both looking as fragile and sensitive to the morning sun as everyone else.

Rick's grin only widened. "It matters Evelyn because she is most definitely up to no good and there is something suspicious about a woman out here on her own, hell there is something suspicious about her knowing this place is real. Surely you're curious too, she's the only other female out here and that scholar's mind of yours must be wondering why."

"I'm curious," Jonathan admitted as he finally stood up, "I mean what if she knows about some treasure?"

"You know Jonathan you and Jess are really quite alike," Rick retorted with a small smile.

"How so?" Jonathan queried as he looked insulted at the thought.

"You're English," Henderson answered as if it was something horrible to be.

"You're thieves," Daniels continued.

"You don't have morals," Burns murmured.

"I was just thinking your names begin with the same letter," Rick commented sardonically, "but those things are true too."

"They are not," Jonathan scoffed. "You don't know her name really is Jess, she could be lying about that."

Evelyn sighed with a shake of her head. "That's the one thing you have a problem with out of that list," she grumbled, "oh Jonathan."

* * *

Jess was growing frustrated, her leg was agonising, every corridor looked the same and there seem to be an eerie impossible breeze that came every few minutes, threatening to put her torch out. She was deep in the bowels of the forgotten city of the dead and had been for a couple of hours now, looking at every wall carving, dust covered statue and cobweb dominated object with desperation. She knew what she was looking for and she knew it had to be here somewhere but none of the symbols, heliographs or markings provided any clue and every box she prised open (with a small crowbar borrowed from Jonathan's tent) only offered up rotted bandages and rusting metal tools that still bore bloodstains. She was careful with every box and chest, all too wary of traps, some did hint at them and it was with great effort that she followed the ancient instructions to deactivate them. It wasn't always possible though and she was forced to abandon those particular doors and boxes rather than risk salt acid to the face.

Now she was descending down a corridor that was slanted to the right suggesting that at some point in history the building had partially sunk, whether due to an earth tremor or a weakened structure Jess could only guess at. It was a little disorienting as she struggled to steady her footing and slumped into the wall a couple of times. Worse, it was long, grim and shrouded in darkness, making her ever wary of what was ahead. She thought of the warden's fate and suppressed a shudder as she wondered what dwelled down here in the ancient shadows.

At first the walls depicted the imagery of priests bowing before a pharaoh and making offerings at the feet of Anubis, perhaps for the pharaoh's ka Jess supposed but then as she continued on the carvings took a sinister turn. There he was, the monstrously headed god of storms and chaos, Set, not a statue but a living god pointing at the pharaoh in judgement and disgust. Jess couldn't believe the carvings as she glimpsed at them and she knew if Evelyn were here the young scholar would be in equal disbelief and awe as she marvelled over a very real carving of a pharaoh on his knees. It did not matter that the pharaoh was kneeling before a god and not in submission but fear, pharaohs were never depicted in a vulnerable manner, pharaohs were meant to be gods themselves after all.

She reached the end of the corridor at last and swallowed down a curse. Here was another granite statue of Set, staring at her in cruel judgement. She turned away from it quickly to turn left, it looked like a dead end but as she held the torch up she saw that it was a door. The trick was finding the opening but Jess had much experience in breaking into rooms now. She moved the torch up and down impatiently, her golden-brown eyes taking in the heliographs hastily before she saw a tile with the symbol for opening on it. She pushed it hard, wincing slightly as she had to lean hard against it before it finally sunk into the wall slowly. There was a low click before dust seeped out as the door moved back for the first time in centuries. Jess coughed quietly as she raised her hand to shield herself from the dust before holding her torch forward into the chamber.

The young woman glimpsed round columns with faded, colourful images carved and painted into them, walls with images of gods and people in obsidian and tarnished gold, and statues of men half in the inky blackness of the room. Jess squinted as she took a step forward and entered the room. Her eyes went wide as she realised they weren't statues but skeletons rather, still standing against the walls, their cloth Shendyts worn to rags whilst the bronze swords remained still in the skeletal hands when surely the weight of the swords should have dragged the bones apart and to the ground.

There was a loud bang as the door slammed shut behind her without warning. She whirled around with wide eyes, holding the torch outwards as she felt her heart begin to hammer in her chest. There was no symbol for an opening and though she pressed against several tiles with her free hand none gave way. Refusing to give into panic, the young woman swallowed hard and turned back with a grim face to study the chamber she was now seemingly trapped in.

'Well these guards died protecting something,' she thought confidently as she stepped up towards them. Sure enough behind the skeletons, resting on an elevated stone platform was a large, heavy, obsidian chest with three locks of bronze on it and the dark face of Set carved on its lid. 'It can't be this easy,' the young woman thought as she held the torch forward to read the carvings on the chest. 'Those who seek chaos shall be gifted with it,' she translated the phrase with a bitter frown. 'It's the same, this has to be it.' She continued to read the carvings for any hint of traps but there was no warning.

So, she placed her torch down on the ground before the chest and started to inspect the locks. They were intricate, tough as she knew they would be but they all had a similar slot and she was certain she had the key for them. She tugged out a fine chain of bronze about her throat, its cursed pendant left beneath her shirt, eternally cold against her skin. She loathed the item and despised having it so close to her but it was a necessity. The item in question resembled a bronze coin with one tiny hole at its top through which the chain had been placed; it bore several chips of ivory on its face and a single obsidian at its centre. The ivory pieces Jess knew would fit into the gaps in the locks on the chest, she didn't know how she could be sure and yet as she felt the piece become suddenly unnaturally warm between her fingertips as she reached for it with one hand and the chain's clasp with the other she knew she was right.

The chain's clasp refused to open momentarily causing the woman to fidget with it several times, twisting and tugging on it with several curses of frustration before at last it snapped free. She let the chain tumble to the ground with a soft jingle that seemed to echo ominously in the chamber and hoped she would never have to wear it again. She moved to the first lock with the coin like key and pressed it in. It was stiff and it took a little jiggling to get it in place, undoubtedly due to hundreds of years of the locks warping through time, but at last it slotted into place. She sucked in a breath, surprised and relieved at the same time, and dared to turn it. Once to the right and twice to the left, it struggled and let out a few creaks but eventually it moved and clicked free.

The second lock was even harder, resisting the key's advances and groaning loudly as Jess tried to turn it before at last it reluctantly gave way and finally clicked free. Each time she expected a rush of acid or something worse, knowing that what she was doing was highly foolish and terribly risky, and yet nothing came save a groan from the chest and a brief flurry of dust from the locks. The third lock was the worst, it took her twenty minutes to turn the key, causing sweat to bead at her brow and her hand to turn red with the strain but at last it clicked free.

All three locks suddenly fell to the ground with loud metallic clatters that echoed round the chamber repeatedly as the lid shot up causing the woman to stumble back with a gasp of fright. For a moment she was frozen as if expecting something to leap out from within, when nothing came she dared to let out a breath and step forward.

There was a mesh of rotted, gold, silk cloth and turquoise satin with a webbing of bronze, and on top of it was a necklace of gold and ruby droplets with tiny tears of gold between them, each with a symbol of sable on it that looked like a crook with two lines scored at its bottom, a symbol linked to Set, and a sickle with a handle of ebony and a bronze blade with Set's symbols engraved on it. Jess let out a loud profanity, it wasn't here! After all this it wasn't here!

There was an odd cracking noise causing the woman to fall silent in confusion. She looked about warily, tensing when she heard another similar noise. When this was followed by more and the sound of trickling water she filled with alarm and her eyes rolled up to the ceiling. There were clay pot shaped objects in the corners of the roof and the cracking noise was there lids shattering as they gave way to water. It came slowly at first; trickling out of the pots in a crystal clear flow that sparkled faintly in the torchlight but within seconds it became a heavy flow of four waterfalls.

Jess grabbed the necklace and sickle, shoving the necklace into a pocket and the sickle through her belt loop before she seized her torch and looked frantically for an exit. She darted about the chamber, cursing as the torch sizzled as water spattered near it. It was already pooling at her feet! Her eyes went wide at the thought of drowning as she studied the symbols on the walls hastily, looking for hints of an exit in desperation.

As the water reached her knees and she was forced to wade she finally glimpsed a potential exit. There were symbols on the back wall, including the imagery of Sobek the Nile god, it was confusing and Jess wasn't sure her translation could be right but she had to hope. It suggested that the floor below her had a section which opened into a drain for the water. She looked down warily, realising that she would have to go under the water to find the trigger for the drain, which meant giving up her torch and searching blindly in water she could not swim in.

Realising she had no choice and had to move fast before she could no longer stand, she dropped her torch, sucked in a deep breath and plunged below. The water was icy, a sudden shock to her as her nostrils filled with it and she felt her chest tighten. For a moment she was frozen with a familiar panic before she forced her to reach down with both hands and feel along the ground. It was dark, her heart was pounding hard and she could her feet beginning to lift forcing her to kick down, the water was getting too deep!

She had only a second of relief where her hands pressed down on a button before that turned to panic as a square hole in the floor opened up and she found herself falling down a slide with a gush of water. There was only darkness as she fell, wondering frantically if she was going to slam into a dead end or perish in a pool of water. The slide was narrow and at a slant, and the flow of water only slightly eased the rough rock underbelly rubbing at her skin. Her fall lasted seconds but felt like an eternity and when it ended unceremoniously with a tumble onto a cold, stone floor Jess found herself lying stunned for a moment.

It took a couple of moments before the numbness and shock faded giving way to fresh pain as her leg throbbed anew along with fresh cuts, bruises and skin burns from her rough slide. As she rolled onto her back with a wince she finally realised that the water was running harmlessly down through a bronze grating in the floor just inches from her feet while she lay in another unfamiliar corridor, one with a light source created from carefully placed bronze mirrors. She stood up and dusted herself down before glancing about her surroundings warily. She had fallen down and yet the mirrors suggested that sunlight couldn't be far. She was mildly suspicious at their lack of dust but eager to get out she did not ponder it for long and instead started walking, following the rays of light back, hoping to find their source and an exit.

The corridor ended in a round chamber with statues in alcoves around the walls, large, bronze bowls of flaming oil between them, and a raised platform of plaster in the centre with gold plating around it and a polished floor of jade on its surface. There were black symbols on the jade floor but they were impossible to make out from Jess' vantage point. The statues were also difficult to make out despite the fires as they were deep within their alcoves and lost to shadows. Ever wary, the woman stepped forward slowly, the sickle now out in her bloody right palm. She could not see an exit from this chamber save the one she had come from and yet the room had to serve some purpose.

Jess knew enough about Egyptian temples, pyramids and shrines to know that this was nothing normal but she supposed that Hamunaptra was nothing normal and thought to be a fable until now. Yet there were no sarcophaguses here, nothing to suggest it was a priest or body's chamber, and no offerings to suggest it was a point of worship either. As she neared it she realised the only way to properly make out the symbols was to step onto the jade platform and so with a mixture of reluctance and intrigue she did.

There was a low creak and the sound of stone grinding against stone as the statues slowly began to move forward. Jess' brown-golden eyes widened in horror as she realised she was surrounded by a ring of Set statues. Their disturbing muzzles were barred, the eyes narrowed with rage and one hand out clutching a spear in a form of war. They moved of their own accord, their stone limbs still as the platforms shifted forward and yet Jess filled with terror as if they had truly come to life.

When the statues were five inches from the jade platform they finally stopped. The spears rose up in unison and came down again, striking the ground hard. Bronze mirrors sprung up from the ground without warning and Jess suddenly found herself enclosed within them. For a moment there was only darkness again and she wondered if she had unwittingly sprung a trap before the mirrors began to glow faintly, reflecting the dull amber flames of a torch she could neither see nor feel.

Unable to do anything else she watched as the mirrors seemed to darken slightly as if with a mist before shapes began to take form. Her heart skipped a beat as she found herself trapped by a ring of people, shadowy figures that appear sinister and unnatural as if restless wraiths. When one began to take a familiar form the woman could not stop a shameful scream of terror from escaping her.

There was a man- tall, proud, muscular and imposing, once a figure of joy like a friendly giant he had somehow twisted and turned into a monster, the same monster that looked down at Jess now with dead brown eyes, a thin mouth curled up in a scowl, barely visible beneath the wiry, grey-black beard.

She stepped back from the form, and her eyes darted about as the panic rushed through her, he was in all of the mirrors! Her left hand curled tightly into a fist as she bowed her head and closed her eyes momentarily. It was a mirror, it wasn't real, it couldn't be real. 'An illusion, a hallucination,' she told herself anxiously, 'brought on from the fall.'

"Jessica." Her name was called out in a voice broken, almost dismissible as the sound of a croaking wind rather than a voice, almost.

She opened her eyes slowly and a gasp jolted up her throat, almost a scream before she halted it. The face was right before her eyes, level with her terrified gaze, so solid and clear she might have touched it. Tears burned at her eyes as she looked at ones once loving and now filled with a terrible hatred. "Daddy," she croaked out weakly.

With that single word every mirror shattered and Jess shrieked as she raised her hands to shield her face and found her arms sliced by several shards.

"Stop it!" she screamed. "Stop it! STOP IT!"

* * *

In a large, sandy chamber the Americans waited impatiently as the terrified, sweaty diggers placed a heavy, ornate chest of wood and stone before the eager Dr. Chamberlain. They all crouched around it anxiously and Burns leaned across Dr. Chamberlain to blow off centuries of dust whilst Daniels reached out to touch a corner with his free hand earning a look of scorn from the Egyptologist. The chest was red with a strip of black around it engraved with gold heliographs, at its base at each corner a man had been engraved and painted, brown skinned with shendyts and nemes of gold.

Dr. Chamberlain was quick to shove back Daniels' eager hand with his own before he tugged out a linen cloth with his free hand and rubbed it along the lid tenderly. "Time and care Mr. Daniels," he said almost patronisingly.

Henderson let out a snigger. "Daniels doesn't know what care is," he mocked even as his blue eyes darted to the chest with an impatient longing.

Dr. Chamberlain studied the ancient letters on the lid of the chest and his hazel eyes narrowed as he announced, "there is a curse upon this chest."

"Curse my ass," Daniels scorned immediately even as the diggers gave fearful murmurings and stepped back.

Beni, who was standing behind them providing the torchlight to read the chest, tensed and his eyes darted about the chamber nervously.

"In these hallowed grounds, that which was set forth in ancient times, is as strong today, as it was then," Dr. Chamberlain was quick to chide Daniels with a scolding look. 'Why did it have to be these people who would take me to Hamunaptra?' he wondered moodily. 'Why not another learned scholar or at the very least someone who knows enough of the civilisation to respect it!'

"Well doc you've got my interest peaked," Henderson piped up as he grinned at the Egyptologist, "read out the curse already."

Dr. Chamberlain sucked in a deep breath and Daniels rolled his eyes knowing the man was purposely trying to build up the theatrics and create some tension. The Egyptologist's hazel eyes finally looked back down at the chest and he read gravely, " 'Death will come on swift wings to whomever opens this chest.'"

There was a low rattle as a gust of wind blew into the chamber and the torches flickered in it. The diggers screamed unanimously, dropped their tools and fled yelling about a curse. Beni watched them go with a prickle of longing as he felt sweat lace down his brow and tugged out his gun with his free hand. The Americans shared an anxious look before they each glanced about the chamber wearily.

"It says," Dr. Chamberlain continued sternly, "there is one, the undead, who if brought back to life, is bound by sacred law to consummate this curse."

"Well let's make sure not to bring anyone back from the dead then," Henderson joked in an attempt to lighten the suddenly tense mood.

Burns gave a small, forced grin but Daniels remained scowling, unconvinced at the idea of a curse and yet unnerved enough not to want to joke either.

"He will kill all who open this chest," Dr. Chamberlain continued as he followed down the heliographs with one finger. He paused and swallowed hard as if realising the gravity of his words. His eyes darted on and he tensed, reluctant to voice the rest. "And assimilate their organs and fluids," he concluded weakly.

Daniels leaned forward to look at the chest as if expecting an image to clarify or disprove the Egyptologist's words but of course he couldn't understand it. He was getting irritated now, it was warm and stale in here and his injured arm was tingling as it was stiff against his chest, his hand tucked into his leather brace uselessly.

"And in doing so," Dr. Chamberlain forced himself to continue, "he will regenerate. And no longer be the undead, but a plague upon this earth."

The wind gave another low whistle and the torches flickered once more. All eyes rolled about the chamber anxiously before Henderson shook his head scornfully and snapped, "nonsense, let's open it already." He and Burns reached for it when suddenly a scream echoed through the chamber.

"The curse!" Beni shrieked as he bolted for it. "Beware the curse!"

"Snake," Daniels grumbled even as he tugged out his Colt with his free hand.

"That...that wasn't the wind," Burns commented nervously as he stood up and looked about the chamber.

When the scream came again they all stood, guns out as they put their backs to the chest as if protecting it.

"Where's it coming from?" Henderson wondered.

"It's an echo," Burns murmured.

"Probably that Carnahan woman stumbled into a cobweb is all," Daniels grumbled but even he didn't believe his words.

When it came a third time it was louder and more bloodcurdling setting all the men on edge. "Shit," Henderson hissed out, "that noise ain't right. What the hell is going on?"

"Someone is in trouble," Burns murmured.

"So?" Daniels remarked coolly. "I say we open this chest and get the hell out of here before..." He trailed off, unwilling to admit that there was something to be afraid of, something they needed to escape from in here.

Burns looked at his friend scornfully. "David we can't do that," he chided, "we need to at least look."

"Alright, point the way," Daniels snapped, "but if we get lost in this God forsaken tomb or that chest vanishes, it's your fault," he added as he pointed down at the chest with his gun.

"I'll watch it with Mr. Henderson," Dr. Chamberlain offered. He looked at the blonde anxiously, his skin stark white, almost grey in the shadows of the cave.

Henderson shook his head mockingly at the Egyptologist as he gave a tight smile. "And miss all the fun? Alright, fine," he grumbled, "but don't take too long with the sightseeing," he addressed the other pair.

The scream came a fourth time, it was hoarser but Burns thought he had figured out the direction this time. "This way," he announced as he led the way forward as he snatched up an abandoned torch with his free hand.

The walk felt like an eternity to Daniels and he grumbled several times that it was a waste of time, stupid, and reckless. They passed several dusty walls with numerous paintings and markings, broken vases, smashed sarcophaguses and abandoned, crumbled statues but nothing that looked to be of value or interest. As a whole Hamunaptra had disappointed Daniels, he had been expecting chambers of jewels and gold, the abandoned treasures of buried pharaohs, especially after the nomads had fought so hard to chase them from it but all there seemed to be down here was dust, bones and death.

They turned several corners, moved down numerous corridors and headed through two small chambers, all the while chasing after the frantic screams, each one more unnerving than the last. Finally, they faded to whimpers and whilst Daniels was relieved to be no longer tormented by screams Burns only grew anxious and moved quicker, fearful that the lack of sound meant the screamer had been unwillingly silenced or was too tired or hurt to keep yelling.

They reached a small, round chamber at last, the floor now buried beneath sand and dust, and the only item left in it was a statue of the ever watchful death god Anubis. Daniels bared his teeth slightly at the jackal head, having decided recently that they were now his least favourite animal before his eyes rolled down to the source of the screams.

For a moment neither Burns nor Daniels knew who they were looking at. It was a figure, knees hunched up and head burrowed in them, clothes tattered, filthy and bloodstained, and an inaudible mantra mumbling from them. When Burns held his torch forward slightly they recognised the crop of dirty, tangled hair, no longer fair, it was black and a sticky brown with dirt and clumps of blood.

Burns immediately knelt before the woman, concern overriding any suspicion as he holstered his gun and reached out his hand slowly.

She jerked back violently from the hand and her head shot up and she looked to Burns with a gaze so wild it frightened him. "They're dead," she hissed at him, "they're all dead. THEY'RE ALL DEAD!" When she pounced at him he let out a yell and shrank back as her nails clawed down his shoulders before Daniels kicked her back.

The dark haired American filled with a pang of guilt when she fell back hard on her back; he hadn't exactly meant to hurt her, it had just been an instinctual reaction to her attack on his friend. He sighed as he holstered his own gun and bent forward slightly to look at her. "Who's dead?" he queried coldly.

"She's in shock," Burns murmured as he recovered and tugged off his glasses to wipe at them with the corner of his shirt. "We need to get her out of here."

"We?" Daniels grumped. "We need to go back to our treasure before Henderson loses all patience and opens it without us."

Burns glowered up at his friend and snapped, "have some compassion David."

"She's a thief Bernie," Daniels reminded him, "and she's clearly mad." He could hear her babbling again as she sat upright.

"No, she's in shock," Burns repeated. "Do you really want to leave her here?"

"Yes but can I leave her here?" Daniels sighed. "No, I suppose not, if only because I wouldn't leave anyone down here 'cept that rat Beni."

Burns leaned forward to her again as he slipped his glasses back on. "Jess," he addressed her politely, "if I can call you Jess," he ignored Daniels' mocking snort at this, "it's Bernard, Bernard Burns, remember?"

She looked at him cautiously before nodding. "I took your ticket."

"Right," he murmured with a frown.

"Still want to help her?" Daniels quipped sardonically.

"I knew you would get onboard," she mumbled, "you had to, I wouldn't have taken it if I didn't know, I needed you onboard, I needed to follow you. Follow you right into hell." She cracked a bitter smile at this and Burns found himself tensing and shrinking back from her at this.

"That would be about right," Daniels grumbled, "this place is definitely hell."

"Well anyway," Burns continued, "we should get out of here." He held out a hand to her hopefully.

"Now hold on a second," Daniels interrupted rudely, "who's dead? Did someone else die?" he demanded as he glowered down at the woman.

"Not today," she retorted frostily as she glared back up at him and accepted Burns' hand.

"What the hell does that mean?" Daniels queried in annoyance. "You said someone was dead."

She shrugged as Burns helped her stand and she seemed to compose herself slightly. "It was just fatigue, the heat of the desert and all that," she retorted dismissively.

"Oh bullshit," Daniels snapped at her.

"David," Burns chided but his voice was weak as he wilted slightly under his friend's glower.

"Look at the state of you," Daniels remarked as he took in Jess' wounds, "you weren't having a casual look around like the rest of us."

Jess gave him a taunting smile. "So sorry I'm more hands on than you, it's dirty work when you don't have servants doing all the hard labour for you."

Daniels pointed at her accusingly with one hand and said in a low voice, "I ain't fooled by this act of yours, not one bit. I see the terror in your eyes and the tears, and I heard your screams, either you spook real easily, and I doubt it, or you saw something down here. O'Connell's right, you're up to something and it ain't fortune hunting and it ain't some scholar's quest like Miss Carnahan either."

Jess stiffened as her smile slipped away and her lips tensed together in a frown before she tore her gaze away from him. "Can we go?" she queried frostily.

Burns nodded and started walking. Daniels' frowned deepened as he followed and Jess limped alongside them. He swallowed down several curses when Burns guided them right back to Dr. Chamberlain, Henderson, and their chest.

Dr. Chamberlain looked up anxiously at the sound of their footsteps before he openly scowled at the sight of Jess. "A thief Mr. Daniels, really?"

"Really," Daniels grumbled, "blame Bernie, he's the one sympathetic to a screaming woman not me."

Henderson shook his head even as he smiled slightly at Jess before quickly frowning as her wounds were illuminated by the torches in the chamber. "Jesus what happened to you Miss Jess?" the blonde demanded.

"I broke from the tour," she answered sardonically, "and honestly, I wouldn't recommend it."

"Go stand in the corner," Daniels grumbled at her, "and keep your hands where we can see them."

Her eyes locked with his as she gave him a fierce gaze. "Why don't you just tie me up?" she queried hotly before giving him a vicious, teasing smile. "I'm good with ropes."

Henderson let out a low whistle at that whilst Burns' cheeks reddened slightly and he hastened to the chest.

"I bet you are," Daniels grumbled before he turned from her and headed back to the chest. "Let's open this heap of junk already."

"Mr. Daniels really," Dr. Chamberlain chided as his gaze remained on Jess, "this is an ancient artefact, a grand and detailed structure of great value."

"It's a box doc," Henderson retorted flatly before he moved with Burns to open it.

The pair slid off the lid as quickly as they could, dumping it on the floor with little grace causing a low thump to echo round the chamber. Jess hung back against the wall watching with intrigue. Her heart was still hammering against her chest and sweat lashed down her skin as she tried to banish the images in the bronze mirrors. She did not know how she had stumbled into the chamber where Burns and Daniels had found her; she could not fathom it and did not want to think on it. All she could feel was relief that she had been found.

Dr. Chamberlain hastened forward, shoving both hands into the open chest to fumble with a burlap sack, out of which he tugged, with a grunt of effort, a large, heavy book of sable with brass clasps, several engravings, and a star shaped indent on its cover. He marvelled down at it in awe whilst Daniels and Henderson looked openly disappointed.

He stood up slowly, clutching the book reverently as the trio stood up with him, looking down at the book, Burns with intrigue, Henderson in disbelief and Daniels in outrage.

"This gentlemen is a priceless treasure," Dr. Chamberlain marvelled, "a sacred book thought to be legendary."

Daniels looked at him like he had gone mad whilst Henderson filled with frustration. "It's a goddamn book," he scorned as he kicked the chest in frustration, his brown boot sinking through the wooden base as he did.

"Yeah where's our treasure?" Daniels demanded. "You want a book, there's a dozen in Cairo!"

"This is no ordinary book," Dr. Chamberlain scolded as he clutched the book close to his chest before he looked to where Henderson's boot had gone. "There," he announced as he saw gold glittering from within, "is your treasure."

They all looked at his words to five canopic jars of ivory, gold and jewels resting within a compartment in the chest. They each bore a different head, one was a jackal, one a human, one a baboon, one a falcon, and one, which was shattered, a lion, only its head left intact.

They moved together with hungry eyes, Henderson grabbed two at once, the jackal and the falcon. He stood up and held the jackal out to Daniels with a mocking grin. "Here, maybe this is why you kept seeing jackals."

Daniels frowned at his friend even as he accepted the item and ran a finger over the gold inlay.

Burns took the human headed one leaving the baboon headed vessel for the greedy Dr. Chamberlain.

"Thought the book was your treasure," Daniels commented sardonically.

"The book is for study," the Egyptologist answered haughtily, "the jar will suffice as payment for my work."

"Whatever doc, plenty to go around," Henderson mused. "Pity Beni scarpered, he could've got the lion's share," he jested. He then laughed at his own joke as Burns smiled too.

"Stupid superstitious bastard," Daniels muttered.

Henderson glanced Jess' way, she was favouring her good leg and looking pale and drawn, tired with bloodshot eyes and tearstained, dirty cheeks. The blonde, his greed now sated, felt a great deal of pity for the woman. She was terribly out of place in this desert and yet he didn't see her as being too comfortable mingling in the city, she was no English lady like Miss. Carnahan but he wasn't buying the street thief of Cairo either, no, there was something else to the woman.

"We should go," the blonde said quietly.

They moved together, Daniels scowled when Jess faltered on her burned leg and banged into the chest, doubling over to clutch at her limb with a wince before righting herself once more and waving off Henderson's concerned hand. None of them noticed the sleight of hand or that the forgotten, broken lion jar was now gone from the chest.


	6. Chapter 6- An Evening of Revelations

"Here, peace offering."

Burns looked up at the dishevelled Jess questioningly, he blinked hard, forced to squint as the bright rays of the setting sun were right in his teal eyes. He made out a gold monogram of the letters B.B and blinked again, it was his archaeologist digging kit. "Um...why?" he queried dumbly as he wondered how Jess knew it was his and more importantly, why she had cared enough to get it back for him.

"I was in no immediate danger in that tomb," Jess retorted coolly with a moody expression, her embarrassment overriding her gratitude, "but well," she shrugged, "you helped me anyway. You could have left me."

Daniels, who was within earshot, sitting on a chair cleaning his Colt, let out a snort of derision. He had been fondling his newfound treasure until he had spotted the woman approaching, then he had hastily burrowed it in his trouser pocket and tugged out his gun instead.

"Yes Mr. Daniels," Jess remarked loudly as she gave him a glower, "I know you could have left me too, and probably thought about it, but I'm feeling less gracious towards you, I think you helped me out of persuasion not human kindness."

Daniels glowered back at the woman as he let out another snort. "I had faith in you helping yourself, you seem to have as much a knack for getting yourself out of awkward situations as you do for getting into them and my human kindness towards petty thieves and liars does have its limits."

"How did you know this was mine?" Burns quipped, purposely interrupting before Jess and Daniels could enter a spat. He reached out a hand to the kit, rubbing his fingertips along the brown leather before clutching at it, as if doubting it was his again.

Jess surrendered it to his grasp with ease before offering a small smile and retorting innocently, "your initials are on it."

Burns flushed slightly as he realised the truth of that as he fingered the letters as if they were made of real gold. "Alright," he grumbled, "but you didn't just blunder on to it, did you?" He squinted up at her questioningly.

"She's a thief," Daniels remarked rudely, "probably just came across it during her scavenging, and probably wouldn't have returned it either if we hadn't helped her." He took care to emphasise the word 'we' tipping his brown fedora up slightly as he looked to Jess once more.

"Returned what?" Henderson queried as he joined them. He was clad in a loose, dust stained, cream shirt, that had its top two buttons undone exposing part of his golden-brown chest, a loose, gold neckerchief, his brown cowboy hat, dark brown trousers, and formerly brown boots that were now a combination of mustard and grey from sand, dust, and dirt. "Evening Miss Jess," he greeted politely as he flashed a tobacco stained smile at the woman and tipped his tan hat slightly.

Though the blonde seemed polite Jess noted the wariness in his bright blue eyes and knew that now the man had a treasure to protect he was less eager to welcome a known thief amongst his company. "Mr. Henderson," she retorted cordially with a nod. "I was just conveying my gratitude for earlier to Mr. Burns," she explained. "Anyway, it's getting dark and I don't want to keep you boys from your supper."

"Wait," Burns protested as the woman turned to walk off. He stood up and looked at her with awkward thanks. "I...thanks for this," he said at last.

"The thanks is mine," she replied with a small smile before turning and limping off into the night.

"Something I said?" Henderson quipped mockingly as his smile widened.

Burns finally turned away from Jess to look at the blonde.

"Isn't that the kit that wasn't your kit?" Henderson queried sardonically as he looked to the leather kit pointedly. "B.B, a gift from Katie, right?"

Burns nodded as a flash of grief darted through his dark eyes. "Right," he retorted quietly.

"Miss Jess playing Robin Hood now? Stealing for good?"

"It's not really stealing if she's giving it to the rightful owner," Burns protested as he clutched it close to his chest with one arm.

"Alright Burns," Henderson protested jokingly as he raised one hand slightly in mock defence, "but be careful," he warned, "Jess is nice and I like her too but those eyes of her are sharp, don't believe she isn't thinking about our recently acquired treasure."

"Yes it was rather inspired letting her see our treasure," Daniels grumbled as he holstered his gun at last.

"Well Daniels you played your part in that too," Henderson scolded him. "Anyway, our over sea cousins have invited us to a nice dinner by firelight."

"Well we are sharing camps and the fire now," Burns murmured.

"Don't scowl Daniels," Henderson chided with a teasing smirk, "Jonny was telling me how they found a mummy, I think it's only fair we let them know what we got. Remember they won that little horse race, well I think we might have won the more important challenge."

A spark of delight blazed suddenly in Daniels' dark blue gaze as his competitive nature awoke at Henderson's words. He thought enduring a questionable dinner of soggy beans and what Beni had referred to as 'desert rabbit' with the condescending Evelyn and cocky O'Connell might just be worth it to rub their noses in the Americans' gain. 'Ignorant Yankees get the gold whilst the scholar and experienced soldier get shit,' he thought happily.

"Alright, let me put this away and get cleaned up," Burns said.

"And let me get drunk enough to knock the sting out of my arm and resist the urge to shoot that rat Beni," Daniels commented moodily.

"Instead of shooting him just show him what he missed out on," Henderson suggested as he tugged out his falcon headed treasure from his shirt pocket, holding it up in the dying sunlight and grinning as it sparkled briefly in the fading rays.

As the men separated to get ready for the evening Evelyn spotted Jess limping along the ruins at the edge of the large campsite. She was quick to hasten over, her footsteps loud when they struck half-buried limestone tiles. Jess heard her and paused to look her way, knowing there was little point in trying to outrun the woman. She had been trying to find a good vantage point to spy on Dr. Chamberlain from. The Egyptologist was at the front of his tent leaning over a desk on which the heavy, black tome he had obtained was resting. He was so engrossed in the book Jess doubted he would notice if she was standing beside him but she figured one of the Americans might.

Evelyn paused when she neared the woman whose smudged face and filthy clothes led more to the appearance of a chimneysweep than an Englishwoman. Evelyn pushed her loose brunette curls back from her own slightly dusty face and gave Jess an awkward smile. "Miss...um Jess," she addressed her with uncertainty, her smile wavering as she did. "That is...is it alright to call you that?"

"It's fine," Jess replied politely.

"Would you join us for dinner?" she queried with a hopeful look. "Please," she added hastily as she saw Jess' eyes fill with unease. "I mean we're all in one camp now, it's only proper and I'd like it."

Jess sighed. "I know you and the Yankees decided to parley and I don't deny taking advantage of safety in numbers last night but I've no tent or food, it would seem rude to continue to impose and take advantage," she retorted calmly. She was being sincere, conscious of the fact that she had effectively leeched off both parties, true she had helped them defend their camp and they had been willing to let her share their camp, even Daniels, but she was wary now of a change. The Americans had found their treasure, the English siblings had found a mummy and might find more and it was surely only a matter of time before they all harboured ill feelings towards the thief in their midst. Granted Jonathan was a thief too but a gentlemanly one and it was obvious he was too unskilled to target people who actually knew he was a thief, which made his threat minimal to the parties. Then there was Beni, a lying, self-serving snake to be sure but O'Connell was satisfied that he had the measure of the man and was capable of dealing with any threat the man might present, and the Americans trusted that whilst he might be dishonest he was unlikely to betray them until he got his coin from them.

"Oh enough of this foolishness," Evelyn snapped as she placed her hands on her hips and looked at Jess crossly. "Miss Jess, oh dear that really sounds improper you know, anyway," she shook her head, " we are all out here together, like it or not, and whilst we might be rivals in tomb exploring we can certainly be friends at camp. It's dangerous out here, that was made clear last night and we are better in numbers and, as you have said, you have no food or tent so it would only be right to extend our hospitalities to you. Besides, you're the only other woman out here and a very interesting one at that, let's be friends."

"Um..." Jess faltered for words as she met Evelyn's intense hazel gaze, anyone else and she might have questioned their motives but there seemed to be a sincerity to Miss Carnahan's face that Jess couldn't ignore. 'She is right,' she admitted to herself glumly, 'it is dangerous out here and I lost all my supplies in the river and my leg still burns.' She sighed. "Alright, I'll welcome dinner."

"Great," Evelyn retorted brightly as her smile widened. "Let's go freshen up in my tent then."

"Freshen up?" Jess arched a mud stained eyebrow at that. "Not exactly a lot of water out here for bathing."

"Well no," Evelyn retorted as she gave a slight frown, "but we will do what we can."

"Right."

Rick and Jonathan watched as Evelyn took the wayward Jess by her hand and half-guided, half-pulled her into her tent. Rick's vibrant blue eyes burned with suspicion whilst Jonathan merely shook his head as he lounged back on his rug on the sand and quipped, "that's my sister, gullible and charitable, falls for my tricks every time," he added with a chuckle.

"That I don't doubt," Rick murmured dryly as he glanced at Jonathan across the fire he was attempting to stoke. He turned suddenly with the stick he was using; now alight and pointing threateningly up at Beni.

Beni raised his hands slightly with a nervous smile.

"Good grief man what's in your hands?" Jonathan demanded with a revolted look as he recoiled slightly from the flames. They looked like large rodents, furry, dead rodents.

"A gift," Beni answered brightly as he continued to smile at Rick. "For you my dear friend."

"If that's your idea of a gift I'd hate to see what you give your enemies," Jonathan commented sardonically.

"I'm not your friend Beni," Rick retorted as he lowered the stick into the fire once more, "you don't have friends."

"Ah you wound me," Beni said with feigned hurt. He glanced at the lumpy rug Rick occupied and dared to sit down beside him. "I saw you had no dinner so I thought to bring some."

"Dinner?" Jonathan echoed as he squinted over the rising flames.

"Rat meat Jonathan, they taste as good as you think but in the desert it's that or camel faeces," Rick retorted.

"Delightful," the Englishman murmured sarcastically.

"Heh, if you could please not inform my American friends," Beni spoke up as he tugged out a knife and began to skin one of the rats, "since they are sensitive to the desert cuisine I had to inform them it was desert rabbit."

"And they believed you?" Rick marvelled with a shake of his head. "If they're too stupid to realise no rabbit could live out here they deserve to be eating rat."

They stayed in a surprisingly relaxed companionship, skinning and cooking rats, and discussing their day without too much detail for twenty minutes before the Americans joined them. By this stage Jonathan had moved to the left so that he was nearer Rick and Beni, leaving a space for the rambunctious trio to sit, directly opposite Rick and Beni. Each of them was clutching a jewelled animal headed canopic jar proudly and they were quick to turn them round, showing off their gilded forms in the firelight.

"Say O'Connell," Henderson addressed his fellow American with an easygoing grin, "what do you think these will fetch back home?" He waggled his falcon headed treasure suggestively whilst Burns made a point of polishing his.

O'Connell just smiled back, nodding as Daniels and Burns laughed whilst Jonathan couldn't hide the longing gleam in his eyes.

"We hear you gentlemen found yourselves a nice, gooey mummy, congratulations," Henderson continued to mock him.

Rick glanced at Jonathan out of the corner of his eye as the men laughed again. 'Now who could they have heard that from I wonder?' Rick thought sarcastically. He wanted to scorn Jonathan openly but decided it was best not as it would only make the trio of fortune hunters laugh harder. 'You just couldn't resist bragging could you Jonathan?' he thought moodily.

"You know if you dry him out you can sell him for firewood," Daniels taunted.

"Hey Daniels, how are you going to keep that trinket close and shoot?" Rick queried calmly with his own small grin, which widened when Daniels scowled. "Going to be tough to make a decision if our nomad friends come back, hmm, save the jackal or save your own skin?"

Daniels bristled slightly at the word 'jackal' before snapping, "least I have some treasure to think about saving."

The men fell silent at the sound of soft voices and turned to look as Evelyn pushed Jess out of her tent lightly before taking her by the hand and guiding her towards the fire almost forcefully.

Evelyn was in another black Bedouin dress; this was a little plainer, loose about her figure and made of a soft cotton, with a purple band about her waist to show off her shape. Her hair was down in freshly brushed curls, part of them held back and up from her face with simple brass clips, and her face was a little cleaner, smooth and fair with her eyes glinting like jewels. Daniels and Henderson immediately thought of seeing her in the river, clad in a dainty, tight, white nightdress that may as well have not been there, whilst Rick thought of her supple lips pressed against his briefly just last night.

Jess stood beside Evelyn with an uncomfortable stare, now clutching at the older woman's hand almost in a form of desperation. She still wasn't quite sure how but somehow Evelyn had talked Jess into making a little effort for dinner. Whilst there were no clothes for Jess to change into, she had allowed Evelyn to dab a cloth lightly soaked in oil and perfume along her face before applying a pale powder to it, all purchases from the Bedouin caravan, and then brush and bind her hair. If Evelyn had noticed how Jess had paled and her lip had trembled as Evelyn had attempted to brush through her dirty mane she had never commented upon it. In the end Evelyn had bound it up in an elaborate bun of curls with a bronze, butterfly brooch to secure it. Jess' angular face suggested a potential for beauty if the grime was wiped away and the magic of powders, creams and colours that seemed ever popular amongst women these days was applied. She lacked Evelyn's natural charisma and alluring innocent beauty yet there was something to the woman, a rough, untamed appeal like unpolished gold or a dull jewel.

"Gentlemen what are we discussing?" Evelyn queried as she awarded them all with a bright, pearly smile.

"Our mummy," Jonathan answered with a degree of pride. 'King Tut was a mummy,' he thought to himself smugly, 'and he made a fortune for his discoverers. Although...it didn't end all that well for most of them.'

Jess' eyes roved over the men briskly, noting how the American trio had made an effort for dinner too. It amused her that even out here in the middle of the desert these unruly treasure hunters still felt the need to observe the custom of dressing for dinner with guests. All three wore clean linen shirts and trousers, Daniels even wore a tie, and he and Henderson had left their hats in their tents. 'As if they care that hats are rude at the table,' Jess thought mockingly. 'No table, just a fire, some old tins of beans, what definitely smells like burned rat, and some questionable company, and yet everyone has come as if it's afternoon tea.'

"Where's Dr. Chamberlain?" Jess queried curiously, noting the Egyptologist's absence.

"He finds his book too interesting to eat or be sociable," Henderson retorted as he continued twisting his falcon jar about with a look of pleasure.

"You're in her seat," Rick snapped at Beni as he saw Evelyn glance about for a seat.

Beni let out a nervous giggle before he shuffled to his feet and round to Jonathan's side. Evelyn gave him a smile of gratitude before taking a seat beside Rick with a shy look.

Jess made a point of sitting at the edge of the fire opposite Beni and Jonathan and between Evelyn and Daniels. She looked startled when Burns made a point of leaning across Daniels to hand her a wooden bowl of beans. Daniels appropriately frowned as he was forced to lean back but he didn't say anything.

"So what about this mummy?" Daniels demanded.

"Well," Evelyn began as she accepted a bowl of beans and questionable meat from Rick, "according to my readings, our friend, he unfortunately is cursed not to be named, suffered the hom-dai, the worst of all ancient Egyptian curses, one reserved for only the most evil of blasphemers. In all of my research, I've never read of this curse actually having been performed."

"Sounds wonderful," Rick murmured sardonically.

"Yes well they were never meant to have used it out of fear," Evelyn commented with a look of uncertainty, "you see it's written that if a victim of the hom-dai should ever arise, he would bring with him the ten plagues of Egypt."

Burns suddenly looked nervous as he thought about what Dr. Chamberlain had read on the chest, about someone or something undead coming for their organs if brought back to life. 'Coincidence?' he pondered dryly as he suddenly found himself eager for a drink.

"The ten plagues?" Jonathan quipped. "Ah the same as Moses brought to Ramses?"

"Yes," Evelyn retorted.

"Wasn't he Seti's son?" Jonathan remarked.

Evelyn nodded. "Yes, although the pharaoh of the Exodus has never been confirmed as Ramses you know."

"Exodus?" Henderson queried dumbly.

"The exit of the slaves dear boy," Jonathan answered with a smug nod. "Hmm what were the plagues again?" he pondered with a thoughtful look as he leaned away from Beni who was tucking into a rat skewer quite eagerly.

"Locusts," Henderson piped up, flashing Jonathan a mocking smile as he did.

"Darkness," Burns said morbidly.

"Water into blood," Daniels mused as he stared down at the suddenly malicious looking jackal head.

"Yes, then there's my favourite," Jonathan remarked cheerfully, "boils, oh and frogs."

"Hail and fire," Evelyn commented with a small smile, "lice, horrid things, and diseased livestock."

"That's nine," Rick murmured, "and you're all a little too happy about them by the way. So, what was the tenth?"

"The death of the first born," Jess answered coldly.

A low wind blew up then at Jess' words sounding almost like a howl through the desert. They all exchanged a nervous look before Henderson, Jonathan, and Burns laughed. "That is way too common around here," Rick mused as he glanced about.

They continued their meal a little more sombrely before all save Henderson, Daniels, Jonathan and Rick retired from the fire. They set up a game of cards and shared a bottle of whiskey for a couple of hours, happy to scorn the idea of vengeful mummies while the fire was high and the alcohol still flowing. When Daniels finally lucked out after being persuaded to bet his 'dorky looking hat' by Rick he left in a rage to fetch his hat, his scowl deepening as Rick called after him about five hundred dollars still owed.

The dark haired Texan snatched his brown fedora up from his tent with a curse before turning to retreat back to the fire. He had hopes of persuading O'Connell into a game to win the hat back. He paused on his way when he spied a familiar form at the edge of camp, lying across a broken column in what could only be an uncomfortable fashion. She was pale under the white of the moon and as he neared her he saw that she was cold too, hunched in against herself with someone's rug bunched under her head for a pillow.

"What is it?" Jess queried in a bored voice as her golden-brown eyes snapped open. She found herself eyeing Daniels' hat, clutched in his working hand. "Did you start to miss your hat?" she queried sardonically as she sat up with a teasing glint in her stare. Not that Daniels noticed but she had positioned herself so that she could keep Dr. Chamberlain in her sights. The Egyptologist was still working on his book but to no avail as he couldn't seem to fathom how to open it.

"No," Daniels grumbled at her, "I lost it to O'Connell in the cards." He wasn't sure why he had bothered to admit that, he supposed because she was liable to see Rick with it and mock Daniels for it anyway, so better to get the teasing over and done with now.

She let out a giggle at that before shaking her head. "Men who have something to lose shouldn't gamble Mr. Daniels."

"It's only a hat," he murmured even as he looked down at it forlornly.

"Sure about that? You seem fond of it."

"Fond of a hat?" he sneered. "Don't be ridiculous."

She shrugged. "Alright, well I can't imagine it would suit O'Connell and you certainly shan't be so dashing without it, especially with Mr. Henderson in his. Three cowboys and only one cowboy hat, bit of a letdown really."

"This ain't a cowboy hat," he scorned her, "it's a fedora and it was my father's."

"Sorry I don't know about American fashion," she replied sarcastically. "Can I see the all important hat?" she queried as she held out a hand for it.

It was Daniels' turn to shrug, he didn't really want her filthy hands upon it but since it was going to O'Connell anyway he supposed it hardly mattered now. "I had four Aces you know," he commented sourly.

"That's nice," she mused as she took the hat and turned it over in her hands. She then placed the hat on her head and grinned up at the frowning Daniels. "Run along Mr. Daniels and tell O'Connell the nasty thief must have gotten bored and taken advantage of you all being in the one place. You can have your hat back in the morning, just don't wear it around him and he'll get over it."

"Er...what?" For a rare moment Daniels was dumbfounded and took a moment to figure out what was going on. He stared down at the dishevelled woman, his hat lopsided and too big for her head putting most of her face in shadow. The way her golden-brown eyes peered out from the darkness they appeared almost feral and had him thinking of last night's jackals.

"I promise you'll get it back," Jess assured as she waved him off with one hand, "and yes, I know my word isn't much to you but it's not like I can run too far, burned leg and all that."

"Right." Daniels looked at his hat doubtfully before letting out a heavy sigh; unsure whose clutches he would least prefer it in- Jess' or O'Connell's? He turned and trudged on back to the slowly dying fire where Jonathan and Henderson had begun singing a mangled song about cowboys and Indians.

Rick looked up at Daniels expectantly before grinning and shaking his head. "You're really not a man of your word are you Daniels?" he remarked tauntingly.

Daniels bristled slightly at the accusation before deciding he didn't really care what O'Connell thought of him as he sat back down on a half-covered limestone pedestal. "My hat's gone," he grumbled, "that rotten thief must have taken it."

Henderson let out a chortle at that. "You think Jess took your hat? Come on Daniels you must have just left at your ass somewhere."

"Why would she want a hat?" Jonathan queried with a confused look as he shook the empty whiskey bottle.

"To trick idiots like you," Rick mused. "Course there's no one out here for her to fool unless she's hoping to make some mummies think she's a boy, maybe they won't let her at their treasure otherwise."

"And what treasure is that anyway?" Henderson quipped with a serious glint in his blue eyes.

"Good question!" Jonathan enthused as he leaned forward, thrusting the empty bottle out dramatically as he did. "We got a mummy, you got your organ jars, disgusting by the way, what did she get?"

"Daniels' hat apparently!" the blonde cowboy scoffed before laughing.

Daniels glowered at his friend, unimpressed at how he was quick to joke with the Englishman at his friend's expense.

"Anyway," Jonathan murmured as he released the bottle at last, "time for bed I think." He stood up, yanking the collar of his brown blazer with both hands as he did. "Good night chaps."

"Night Johnny," Henderson retorted with a small grin, "better luck treasure hunting tomorrow."

Jonathan stumbled off towards his tent, singing as he did. He paused suddenly when the low barks of jackals ruined the silence of the desert. All of the men tensed and looked about warily to the inky black skies and grey sands as if hoping to see the canines in the darkness.

"Maybe we should all call it a night," Henderson murmured darkly.

Rick was about to respond but he saw Evelyn emerge from her tent, not frightened but as if she had a purpose. He watched her gaze flicker towards Dr. Chamberlain who was looking into the night nervously. "I think I'll keep the fire going a while longer."

"Scared?" Daniels quipped with a sneer.

Rick made a point of tugging out both his pistols before he smirked back at the Texan. "Not so long as I have two hands to shoot with," he retorted tauntingly.

Daniels narrowed his indigo eyes in irritation before he stood up awkwardly, having to put all his weight on one hand as he did. "Night O'Connell," he grumbled.

"Night Daniels, hey how about you leave that jar for me as insurance for the hat and five hundred dollars you owe me?" he suggested. His grin widened at Daniels' look of disgust. "No? Alright but if you keep losing bets to me we're going to have to come with some sort of guarantee."

Daniels stormed off with a curse and Henderson hastened to catch up with him with a laugh. "Slow down Daniels," he called after his friend. He paused when the jackals called once more, longer and louder this time. "Shit there's no getting used to that sound," he murmured as he tugged out his Colt Single Action Army.

Henderson's blue eyes glittered in the faint light of the stars as they swept over the campsite cautiously; he spied Miss Carnahan moving towards O'Connell and the fire like a shy schoolgirl, and then Dr. Chamberlain still trying to open his book in frustration even as he glanced about the desert nervously. The blonde's gaze settled on Burns as the third of their party stumbled out of his tent tiredly, rubbing at his eyes wearily with one hand before he tugged on his spectacles. Unaware of being observed by his friend, Burns' eyes glanced about the campsite quickly, focusing on a particular area, evidently spying what he was looking for he then began to walk in a deliberate direction towards the right of Dr. Chamberlain.

"Where's Bernie going?" Henderson queried as he started to follow after his friend.

Daniels, following the blonde's gaze, realised he could harbour a confident guess as to where their friend was going. He let out a heavy sigh before tugging out his own Colt as the jackals called again. 'They'd better not come up here again,' he thought in annoyance as he walked with Henderson.

Burns found Jess alert and sitting upright staring out at the desert nervously, he caught her in a rare moment of surprise with Daniels' fedora in her lap as she clutched at it with both hands in a nervous embrace. She released the hat and turned sharply at Burns' footsteps, a glittering bronze sickle suddenly in the grasp of her right hand.

"Easy," Burns said softly, "I didn't mean to startle you."

"You didn't," she snapped.

Burns resisted a smile, knowing he had caught her in a lie. "Look Miss..." He let out a quiet sigh. "What is your name?" he queried curiously. "I mean," he flustered, "I'm not trying to pry, I just think it's rude to call you Jess, and well, it'd be nice to know your name."

"Why?" she queried coolly.

"Why not?" he retorted with a look of puzzlement.

"Because I don't use it anymore," she admitted quietly as she lowered the sickle at last and ran her free hand over Daniels' fedora, "it's a family name after all and I don't have a family anymore. It's just Jess now, like I said."

"No family at all?" Burns queried pityingly as he gave a small, bitter smile. "Well I know how it is to have lost family, we all know how that is."

"How so?" she questioned as she looked up at the man curiously. She gave a slight frown spying Henderson and Daniels approaching from behind.

"We've all lost someone close," he confessed, "me, Daniels, and Henderson, brought us closer together I suppose, brought us to Egypt too in a way."

"Why are you telling her that?" Daniels demanded.

Burns' eyes widened in surprise and his neck turned a faint red, though it went unseen under his cream shirt collar. He turned to give his angry companion an apologetic look before murmuring as he gestured to Jess awkwardly with one hand, "I was just talking to her Daniels."

"About personal things," Daniels growled accusingly.

"That is how you get to know people David," Burns retorted sardonically with a look of annoyance as he gave a slight frown. He put up with Daniels' temper the best but more often than not it was because he gave into the man rather than argued with him, it was rare that he bothered to quarrel with Daniels.

"We're not out here to make friends Bernie," Daniels grumbled back, mildly surprised that Burns actually wanted to dispute the matter.

"It couldn't hurt Daniels, quit being so hostile," Henderson scolded lightly. "Might be nice to learn something about Miss Jess." He looked pointedly at the fedora in her lap, his smile widening as he did, she had it grasped tightly in her left hand once more and the edge of her right hand resting against it as she continued to hold the sickle.

"Seems she's doing the learning," Daniels muttered as he too looked down at her. He saw the fear that darted through her eyes as the jackals barked again and noted how her hand seemed to clench his hat as if for dear life, they sounded closer this time.

"Why have you got Daniels' hat?" Henderson queried. "Did you want an excuse for him to come find you?" He let out a laugh when he saw the embarrassment that filled the young woman before it quickly turned to a forced anger. "Aww David, either Miss Jess has bad taste in clothes or she's sweet on you."

"Neither Mr. Henderson," Jess said coolly as she was thankful the night hid her blushing cheeks, "maybe you should wonder if I left everyone else's tent unscathed."

Henderson tipped his own hat up slightly with one hand as he gave her a small grin. "I don't wonder Miss Jess but I don't worry either, I don't leave the important things lying around for thieves." He let out a loud yawn as the jackals cried out again. "Suppose I'll have to think of that racket as the desert's lullaby," he commented dryly. "Anyway, time for bed, we'll have to get up early if we want to find something good. Where are you sleeping tonight Miss Jess?" He glanced at Burns out of the corner of his eye and gave a coy smile, knowing it was why Burns was here talking to the woman, the silly man was actually concerned for the woman. Well Henderson could understand that, she was a young woman, close in age to Katie he suspected, scruffier and without the style and etiquette of Katie but she had that same fiery spark and sharp wit. Henderson could see that there was a similarity, at least if one was desperately looking for it, and he knew Burns was.

She shrugged up at him. "Right here seems fine," she murmured.

He finally holstered his gun only to fold his arms and look down at her with a disbelieving shake of his head. "In the dark and the cold with those jackals preying about?"

"I'll be fine," she retorted but her words came out clipped and forceful and all of the men spied the unease in her stare.

"I was er...that is..." Burns babbled awkwardly. "I mean...I know it's improper...maybe even by the door..."

"Bernie what are you on about?" Daniels demanded as he faced his friend with a questioning stare.

Henderson chuckled. "He's trying to offer Miss Jess a bed without offering his bed. Poor Burns, always the gentleman."

"It's okay," Jess said quickly, "I've managed without a tent, I've a rug and the fire is still going, really, don't trouble yourselves."

"We won't," Daniels retorted calmly.

Henderson sighed, seeing the stubborn glint in the woman's gaze. The blonde recalled however how she had gladly slept in Beni's tent last night, though she had no idea it was the Hungarian's, or that he had been rudely shifted in with Dr. Chamberlain to accommodate the injured woman. He suspected that if the fear took her she would give up her pride and find better sanctuary. "Alright, well good night Miss Jess, at least sleep closer to the fire." He tipped his hat to her again and turned away.

Daniels turned as well and Burns, after giving her at last pleading look, reluctantly followed suit.

Jess turned as she heard a snarl and her eyes filled with worry and suspicion as she raised the sickle once more and peered out into the night. She was certain she had seen the silhouette of a jackal dart by between the ruins, only ten feet away. There was another! She tensed in alarm and felt a scream threaten to crawl up her throat when she saw something else. The dark forms of people stepping out from around the ruins, so quiet and still it was as if they were not but shadows. She thought they might be the nomads at first before she made out that their silhouettes had no robes and none of them appeared to be armed. She counted seven silhouettes and filled with unease as she realised one was the unmistakable form of a woman.

The jackals crept out too, one between each of the figures, staring at her with malicious amber eyes that seemed to glow unnaturally in the night. They opened their mouths and began to howl in unison as the wind blew its now familiar death rattle through the sands and with it came a whisper- _Jessica_. It came in a chorus of voices, mostly male and one soft female, causing tears to bud in her eyes as she realised she recognised those voices.

"STOP IT!" she shrieked as she sprang to her feet and waved out the sickle. "STOP IT!"

The young woman blinked and let out a gasp of confusion. She was still sitting on the pillar, sickle clenched in one hand, the fedora in the other as it still rested in her lap. She was looking at the slowly retreating forms of the Americans who were walking calmly, only a handful of steps from her. Her heart was beating hard against her chest and a cold sweat was trickling down her already icy skin. Had it all been a hallucination? A strange vision? She swallowed hard, it must have been, if she had really been shouting and the jackals howling, and figures had been standing out there the Americans would have reacted to it.

The jackals sounded again, a sudden collection of howls that caught everyone's attention for a moment.

Daniels flinched and turned warily as Jess bumped into him and Henderson. Henderson looked down at her and subdued a smile, even he couldn't mock her fears, the jackals sounded uncomfortably close and yet he could not see them. "Let's get to the tents," the blonde suggested calmly, "and call it a night."

"I'll trade you sanctuary for information," Daniels offered suddenly as he gave Jess a taunting stare. "Your name for a start," he added seriously, "and why you're out here."

She frowned up at him and retorted icily, "and how do you know I'd tell the truth?"

He shrugged. "You haven't lied about your name or business yet even though it would have been the easier thing to do. Look, we're not going to interfere with it so long as it doesn't interfere with our own and you witnessed our discovery, it's only fair."

Jess looked back at him crossly even as she thought of the broken lion jar hidden in her pockets and supposed maybe she did owe them something for that. "Thornwood," she confessed in a low, heavy voice, spitting out the name as if it was poisonous on her tongue. "That was my name."

"Have you married?" Daniels asked sardonically.

"No," she answered sullenly.

"Then it's still your name."

"Well I'd rather no one used it," she retorted coldly. She considered a retreat, reasoning with herself that settling by the fire would be safe enough but then the jackals started again, as if purposely taunting her.

"And you have no family left at all?" Burns queried quietly with a curious look as he stepped past Henderson to look at the woman.

"None, they're all dead."

Both Burns and Daniels suppressed a chill as they were immediately reminded of the words Jess had cried to them in the tombs earlier in the day. Neither knew why but somehow they both realised that was what she had been shouting about in the tombs- 'they're all dead', her family.

'Why though?' Daniels wondered moodily. 'Why was she randomly yelling about that today? What happened to them?'

"Is that why you're out here?" Henderson pried, his poker face on as he hid his sympathy from his face. "Nothing to lose, everything to gain?"

"Something like that," she murmured wearily. "Isn't it why you're all here?"

"We're fortune hunters," the blonde reminded her, "it's in our blood, seeking adventure and glory."

"We've had our losses though," Burns confessed, much to the chagrin of Daniels, "my sister..." He trailed off and shook his head.

"And you two?" Jess queried as her eyes darted from Henderson to Daniels.

"Not your business," Daniels answered frostily.

"My brother and wife," Henderson obliged her with an answer as he tugged off his cowboy hat with one hand and held it against his chest in a moment of respect. He met Daniels' heated gaze and remarked, "ain't nothing wrong with talking about it David, we've all suffered and we are still hurting but ignoring it doesn't make it better."

"No," Jess startled them with an answer, "but ignoring it keeps the madness away."

Daniels privately agreed with Jess' sentiments on the matter.

"What happened to your family?" Burns queried, his eyes lost behind the reflection of the moon against his glasses.

Jess looked at him and found herself quickly looking away, it was as if the man had no eyes, it made her uncomfortable. "Egypt happened to them," she admitted angrily. "Beware curses, not all of them are make believe."

"Ha," Daniels was quick to scorn. "Let's get to bed already, I don't want to hear anymore about mummies and plagues and all that tripe."

"Have I told you enough for sanctuary?" Jess queried coldly as she fixed her wary stare on him.

"No," he answered flatly, "but I'd feel a little bad if I found you picked bones for the jackals in the morning." He gave a taunting grin when he saw the discomfort dance in her eyes. 'I don't like those eyes of hers sometimes,' he thought to himself, 'it's like there something's not quite human in her.'

Henderson let out a laugh. "Try and act like a gentleman tonight even if you aren't one Daniels," he jested.

Daniels just shook his head and started walking off.

* * *

 _Thank you for all the favourites and alerts! I'm curious as to what people think of this story so far so please review, I really do appreciate it!_


	7. Chapter 7- Desert Curse

Daniels glanced from the canopic jar in his left hand to the young woman who had just slipped into a nervous sleep mere minutes ago. Jess lay close to the lantern in the centre of the tent, right hand clutched tightly around the ebony handle of a bronze bladed sickle. Daniels knew to glance at it that it was no ordinary weapon, it looked old, the markings on it were definitely Egyptian and he thought it might be valuable and was suspicious that she had gotten it in the ruins. His fedora was still on her head, crooked and far too big; he had considered taking it back but was wary of waking her up and getting a sickle to the face. She lay curled up half beneath Henderson's brown jacket, he had placed it round her lightly before slipping out of the tent quietly to retire to his own, joking softly about Daniels having a thing for jackals.

The lantern was down now, almost out and Daniels knew he should retire for bed. It had gone quiet again, save for the low murmurings of O'Connell and Evelyn, which he couldn't quite make out, and the occasional crackle of the fire. He found it consoling, though he would never admit to it, in this dangerous place it was certainly easier to nod off while you knew someone else was awake. He wasn't sure about nodding off with a thief in his tent however, especially an armed one but reminded himself that it had been his offer and that she didn't exactly have a reason to gut his throat. Besides, it was just as likely him shooting her, wasn't it?

She let out a low moan and he glanced over at her wearily wondering what she dreamed about. 'Her family?' he pondered. 'Tombs? Mummies?'

"NO! NO YOU MUST NOT READ FROM THE BOOK!"

The voice bellowed out suddenly through the night air, sending a chill of alarm through Daniels. He processed that it was Dr. Chamberlain's voice but that was all he had time to consider as Jess bolted upright, looking about in surprise, sickle at the ready.

"Stay here," Daniels cautioned her before he hastened to his feet and outside. There he joined an equally surprised and confused Henderson and Burns. The trio stood searching the campsite to see what the danger was.

It was then that the noise came. At first Daniels dismissed it for the wind as he spied Dr. Chamberlain grasping that wretched black book and glowering at the Carnahan woman.

"What is that?" Burns quipped in suspicion as he looked to where two half-sunken, limestone walls stood opposite each other.

It was a humming and it seemed to be growing louder by the second. Closer and closer, they were all staring at the walls now, gathering that it came from there. Beni and Jonathan were up now too, gawking at that spot with intrigue and fear. Jess crept out just as a black cloud seemed to appear in between the walls, vibrating rapidly as the humming became almost unbearable.

It was only as the cloud swept towards them with a frightening speed that they all finally realised what it was.

"Locusts!" Jonathan shrieked in horror and astonishment.

It was as if the Englishman's voice had snapped everyone from a trance, at his word they all began to run, bolting with confused yells as the locusts swept over the campsite, slamming into them without mercy. They moved for the hidden city of the dead, diggers included, as they all head in a panic through the same entrance, everyone running to save themselves.

Only Dr. Chamberlain chose not to run, instead he fell to his knees, hugging the black tome close as the locusts swarmed over him. "What have we done?" he choked out in horror.

Jess glanced over her shoulder, her eyes widening at the sight of Dr. Chamberlain being swarmed by the locusts. She stumbled as she did, before turning ahead once more and pushing herself on. She didn't even notice the cold of the desert air as she followed after everyone else, charging blindly to the labyrinth of ancient tunnels and tombs they had all once been so wary of. In there was mystery and potential death, out here locusts of a Biblical proportion.

Henderson was suspicious about the chamber they ran into, certain they had not been in it before. The wall markings he glimpsed briefly, barely visible under what little of the pale moonlight seeped into the entrance, were not familiar. Considering the locusts a bigger threat than the unknown the blonde kept running with Daniels hot on his heels, both of them certain that Burns was with them too.

Burns looked ahead in frustration, his friends were getting further and further away despite how fast he was running, and O'Connell's party had vanished. He opened his mouth to call out to Daniels and Henderson when he tripped over a rock and fell hard, his glasses toppling off the end of his nose in the impact. Burns' world became a blurry uncertainty as he stretched his hand outwards in vain, hoping to grasp his glasses in the darkness. He could hear feet thundering past him in a panic and cried out to them.

"Hey! Can someone help me find my glasses?"

Crunch! Burns winced at the sound, unaware that it was Beni who crushed them under his foot. The Hungarian glanced back once and gave a ruthless sneer at the fallen man before hurrying on.

Hearing a humming in the distance, Burns staggered to his feet and started to move, desperate and uncertain.

"Mr. Burns!"

He whirled round at the voice, relief filling his unfocused teal eyes as he made out a lithe form, smaller than him with untidy hair that had tumbled free. He actually smiled at the sight before confessing, "I lost my glasses."

Jess glanced over her shoulder nervously, her eyes widening as she saw the entrance they had come through darken with locusts. She turned and seized Mr. Burns' right hand suddenly. "Okay, well you'll have to trust me then. Let's go!" she snapped quickly before she broke out into a run.

Mr. Burns stumbled slightly, pulling back on Jess unintentionally before he managed to match her pace. They fled through the darkness, chasing after footsteps, yells and shadows as they weaved right and left, descending down a winding corridor. Jess let out a sudden shriek as her feet skidded over something slimy and she almost lost her balance, saved a fall only by Burns tightening his grasp on her hand and steadying her back.

"What is it?" he queried, sounding a lot calmer than he felt. His heart was pounding hard against his chest, he didn't want to show any fear before Jess though and did his best to swallow it down though he felt vulnerable without his glasses. He tensed as several croaks echoed through the tunnel. 'It can't be,' he thought disbelievingly, certain that his ears were just playing tricks on him.

"Frogs," Jess retorted quietly as she surveyed the tunnel floor in shock. They were everywhere, fat, slimy, green frogs, hopping and crawling over each other as they called out in unison. "And the frogs shall come up on you, on your people, and on all your servants," she murmured darkly.

"Jess we need to find the others," Burns remarked, still calm though he was unnerved at her words and could feel an uneasy sweat trickling down him.

"Right," Jess retorted as she looked about warily, flinching back as a frog jumped on her boot. "We can't go this way, they're everywhere," she informed him. She glanced around quickly searching for an escape route around the frogs. Spying a narrow tunnel to the right that hadn't quite been overrun, she pulled Burns down it.

When they entered a new chamber Burns made out a few faint flickers of torchlight and blurred forms. His lips parted to call out to them until he felt Jess' hand turn to ice in his grasp and he knew that something wasn't right.

Three shambling figures moved up ahead, humanlike, Jess only realised they weren't when one turned its head slightly in their direction, a rotting head missing an eye and showing a jaw exposed thanks to a missing cheekbone. The smell of rot and death hit Jess and Burns in a wave and it was all they could do to subdue the nausea that washed over them.

Jess had no time to think of a plan when all three suddenly halted and turned sharply to face her and Burns. All she could think was that the American had no glasses, he was an easy target! Jess released his hand slowly and addressed him sternly, "turn around and go back the way you came. Don't make a sound, just go, quick as you can, I'll be right behind you." It was a lie but she knew he wouldn't move otherwise. "Go now," she pleaded as she saw him reach for his gun.

Burns turned reluctantly, banishing the odd figures from sight, and made his way back and up to the frogs. He wanted to run, he was desperate to run but something in him insisted it was a very bad idea. So he walked, listening for Jess' footsteps behind him but he couldn't hear anything over the repetitive call of the frogs. He trusted that she was behind him though; there was no reason for her to linger after all.

The three figures came at once, running hastily for Burns' retreating form but Jess was ready for them, one of Daniels' guns out in hand, she dodged to the left and let out a loud yell, captivating their attention. They came shambling towards her, quick despite their awkward movements, rotting, half-bandaged hands outstretched ready to grasp at her.

The young woman froze as she made out one's face, a small chin, an eternal smile thanks to the flesh at the cheeks missing, rotting teeth and eyes, sunken in their skull but still there, two irises of warm brown. She felt a sob bulge in her throat as she met that fierce, dead gaze, she knew those eyes. The mummy had clumps of bloodstained brown hair poking out from a scalp rotted yellow and brown with pus, blood and age, bony shoulders and a small, thin frame but when her partially bandaged hands clasped around Jess' throat they had a surprising strength in them.

The young woman's eyes bulged as she found herself grasping for air. She tried to scream when another's exposed, boil coated fingers ran down the left side of her face, leaving a trail of oily grease and pus as they did, but the scream only exited as a hoarse croak as her throat was restricted.

She lifted the gun in a moment of panic, not even sure if it was ready for shooting, did Daniels bother with a safety? He didn't seem the type. The eyes met hers once more as she aimed the nozzle at the skull. Suddenly they were filled with emotion, a brown stare of warmth and love; it had been years since Jess had seen it. 'He's messing with you!' she told herself angrily. 'Those aren't her eyes! She's dead and dust! Shoot!' She screamed at herself mentally to pull the trigger as her vision flashed red and black and she felt a roll of dizziness almost overcome her.

BANG! Flesh and blood splattered onto Jess as the skull was blown clean through, a large hole appearing in the centre, ruining the nose and sucking the right eye inwards as the thin, rotted flesh couldn't take the impact.

Tasting vomit, Jess only just managed to resist the urge to throw up as she pulled herself free from those hands, letting out an unwilling scream as one hand tore off its limb and came with her. She grasped it and flung it hard, striking the face of the mummy who had soiled her face and then she ran, fleeing into the darkness without a care.

She could hear them pursue her, soft footsteps beating hard on the limestone floor, fast but uneven as their owners gave off low, warning moans. They were hunting her. Left, right, through one chamber, and then another until she found herself almost colliding with someone in a narrow corridor lit by the faint silver reflection of the moonlight carried by a series of mirrors.

Daniels flinched when Jess pressed a single, trembling finger against his lips as he went to address her. He looked at her terrified, blood and pus stained face in confusion for a moment before he heard a groan from behind her. His eyes flickered up and ahead, the confusion in them deepening as he made out a figure coming towards them in an odd fashion. Jess pressed against him in desperation and he wondered if she knew what was moving towards them, slow and curious, it hadn't noticed her or Daniels yet.

The American already had his Colt out and he was quick to raise and point it, but held his fire, wary of the sound alerting the thing or, worse, drawing more to them. So he stood his ground, keeping a sharp gaze on it as it got closer and closer.

Jess tried to stay as still as she could as she heard the thing coming nearer and nearer. She choked down a whimper as she sensed it right behind her and felt its horrid, warm, wet hand pushing against the back of her neck. It ran its infected fingers through her hair as if out of affection and she tasted bile once more. 'He's toying with you,' she thought sternly, 'don't give in, don't be afraid, that's what he wants.' Yet for all her brave thoughts she couldn't help subconsciously moving into Daniels to the point of almost pushing him back. When the fingers raked down her hair again she reacted.

Daniels was within seconds of pulling the trigger when Jess suddenly moved. He made out a ghoulish face, grey in the faint light and mostly lost in shadow but sadly not lost enough. Whatever it was, Daniels saw enough to know that it shouldn't be up and walking about. That face reeled back with an open mouth of horror when Jess turned swiftly, and violently brought her sickle up and through its imposing hand, severing it at the wrist. The sickle cut up with ease, sending dust and shards of bone through the air as the hand hit the ground uselessly.

BANG! Daniels let off a round straight through its skull, his face filling with disgust as the skull seemed to crumble in on itself with the impact. BANG! He fired another for good measure, filling with satisfaction when it hit the ground with an odd sort of moan.

Jess' frightened eyes flickered up to the American in disbelief and for a moment she just stood there, unsure what to do as the thing writhed and died before them. Daniels wondered if 'died' was the right word, had the thing actually been alive to begin with?

"We need to go," he ordered the woman firmly. He turned from her, heading up the corridor she had found him in, trusting her to follow. There was no way he was surrendering his gun to take her hand and he doubted she was going to give up her sickle or the gun she had stolen from him, now out in her left hand.

Jess followed wordlessly, moving so close she actually stumbled into the man twice, prompting him to pause both times with a grunt of irritation. They both tensed hearing yells and chittering sounds, followed by a terrible, bloodcurdling scream.

"Damn it now what?" Daniels grumbled as he continued onwards.

They reached a wide corridor with several winding paths to different places and for a moment the American filled with frustration. The frustration gave way to a sliver of relief when Henderson suddenly appeared at a run followed by several shrieking diggers and that odd, disturbing chittering sound.

Henderson looked at his friend in shock before shouting, "DAVID, JESS, RUN!"

The pair didn't need told twice, they glimpsed hundreds of glittering black bugs, which Jess immediately recognised as the same things that had attacked the prison warden, and they started running. They followed after Henderson, jumping over debris, ducking under a wooden beam and sprinting blindly through a narrow tunnel before they bolted into a corridor lit with several amber torches hanging on the walls.

Henderson found himself forced to jump over a stone beam, causing him to enter the new corridor quite dramatically. It was a winding stone pathway leading directly to another shadowy room and in the middle of it stood a startled Jonathan and perplexed O'Connell.

"RUN YOU SONS OF BITCHES! RUN!" Henderson shouted at them madly as he sprinted for dear life. The sweat was lashing down him, his muscles were aching, and his messy blonde hair kept getting in his face but he didn't care, too caught up in the adrenaline rush to notice any of his concerns. There was no thought of stopping or looking back, he could still hear that damn chittering sound, only when it was gone was he safe.

Daniels followed closely, looking even more alarmed as he bypassed Jonathan and O'Connell wordlessly. Next came Jess, pale and slower thanks to her leg, she let out a yelp when a digger shoved her to one side and she fell.

There was another yell as a digger went down just behind the woman with a cry of horror, one hand extending desperately upwards to his allies, some of whom even ran over him to get past. Everyone paused and turned at the cries. O'Connell made to go back for the digger but there was no time, the black scarabs were on him already, engulfing him in a hungry horde. The man's death screams were a sound all of them knew would haunt their nightmares for months.

Jonathan flung himself in Jess' direction, his right arm going out to her flailing hands as he bowed in her direction. At first their hands missed each other and he hesitated in a moment of horror as he saw that the bugs had already finished with their feast.

"Jonathan!" Jess yelled.

The Englishman snapped back to his senses and reached for her hand once more, grabbing it tight and pulling her up to her feet.

BANG! O'Connell fired a shot into the horde as he saw a bleached white skeleton appear in their midst, the man had been picked clean! They scattered round the bullet but it didn't delay them.

Satisfied that Jess at least was safe, they all started running again. Jess kept a tight grasp on Jonathan's hand, letting him pull her on when her shorter legs struggled to keep up with his longer paces. On and on, they seemed to run forever, no one daring to pause for even a second.

O'Connell sprinted past them all without even seeming to break a sweat, down into the darkness where fresh screams called up to them. Daniels and Henderson hesitated then, daring to wonder if what was down there was possibly worse.

"Keep going chaps!" Jonathan urged them with an ill-suited cheer as he finally caught up to them and released Jess.

There was the sound of yells just before Henderson raced into a chamber, torch out in one hand. As he tried to take in what was going Jonathan blundered in, in front of him. With a yell of horror, Jonathan flung his torch up in the air helplessly and staggered back just as Daniels finally entered the chamber. Jonathan elbowed both men back in his effort to get away, choking down a yell of horror as Henderson continued to try to make sense of what was going on.

Jess entered the chamber just as O'Connell let out a dramatic yell. Her amber-brown eyes widened in disgust and horror as she took in what they all did- a mummy. Only this mummy was animated, staring at them with a pair of teal eyes that looked horribly familiar to Jess. 'Why the eyes?' she wondered fearfully. It was like no mummy she had ever seen, perfectly preserved and yet gooey, the sinews of rotting brown flesh visible in the gaps of its stained, formerly cream bandages. It had numerous holes in its form, a large one at the top of its skull, a gap where a nose had long since rotted away from, and gaps in its chest that revealed a distinctive lack of organs. The thing should not be moving!

BANG! O'Connell's elephant gun roared through the chamber sending the mummy reeling to the floor with an animalistic cry as another hole was added to its unnatural form.

"Run!" O'Connell snapped as he grabbed Evelyn's hand and followed his own advice.

For a moment no one thought, they just moved, going on instinct, following after O'Connell like sheep. It was only when they felt the cool, fresh air of the night calling down to banish the stale odour of death that they started to snap back to reality. Only then did Daniels realise he had foolishly surrendered his gun to its holster and had a vice grip on Jess' right hand. Henderson was just as quick to notice it was Jonathan clinging to him like a nervous schoolgirl, and he was swift in shaking the hand free from his own with a shake of his head.

As they finally escaped the bowels of the city of the dead another terrible sight welcomed them. Dozens of the desert nomads stood there, all armed and clad in black, staring at them hostilely from behind black cowls. Many of them had their guns and scimitars raised and the only thing that gave O'Connell and the others any hope was the sight of Dr. Chamberlain, still very much alive. The Egyptologist was on his knees, staring at Evelyn accusingly as he clutched the black Book of the Dead close to his chest with both hands.

Jess looked at the book in angry surprise as she finally remembered the words that had awoken her from her slumber to this nightmare. "Who read from the book?" she queried hoarsely as the men wisely put their hands up.

The leader of the nomads stepped forward, tugging off his black cowl to reveal a stern, handsome face, younger than Evelyn had expected for one who was a leader. O'Connell recognised him as the man who had attacked him previously with a bronze scimitar before allowing them one day's grace to leave. 'I bet he's regretting that now,' he thought sardonically as he scanned the crowd for Beni. 'No surprise he's scarpered.'

"I told you to leave or die," the leader addressed them sternly. "You refused, and now you may have killed us all. For you have unleashed the creature that we have feared for more than four thousand years."

O'Connell relaxed his stance, daring to lower his hands as he stepped forward to address the man. "Relax," he said calmly, "I got him."

"Impossible," the man scorned with a brown eyed glower. "No mortal weapons can kill this creature. He is not of this world."

"I told you, I got him," O'Connell insisted, "I shot him, he went down."

"He wasn't alive for you to kill," Jess commented coldly.

"And there you go doing that weird doom and gloom thing again," Jonathan remarked dryly with a shake of his head at the woman.

There was a groan as two more nomads joined the group with a man between them. Evelyn let out a gasp of horror and instinctively hid her head at the sight against O'Connell. She had already seen it once and knew her nightmares would forever replay the image; she did not want to see it in person again so soon.

"You bastards!" Daniels cursed hotly as he and Henderson both stepped forward and pulled out their guns.

The broken man on his knees between the nomads was Burns but he was changed, as his pale face turned searchingly they realised he had suffered a worse evening than they. The man had bloody eye sockets where his eyes should be and as he opened his mouth to wail in pain only a gargle came out with a thick trickle of blood, his tongue was gone too. Jess felt ill as she realised now why the mummy's eyes had seemed familiar.

"Oh God," the woman gasped in a whisper, "I thought you would be safe, what...what happened?"

"Yeah, what did you do to him?!" Henderson demanded in outrage.

"We saved him!" the nomad leader protested as fury burned in his eyes. "Saved him before the creature could finish with him. Now, leave all of you, before he finishes his work."

Daniels and Henderson holstered their guns once more to rush to their friend's side. Henderson cradled him in both arms whilst Daniels crouched beside the blonde, one hand out to grasp Burns as he continued looking to the nomads. Daniels found Burns' hand slick with sweat and trembling as he shrank back from his friends in a moment of uncertainty.

"It's okay," Henderson said weakly as he looked to his friend, too much in shock to realise just how permanent Burns' situation was. "Bernie it's..." He trailed off weakly and shook his head helplessly.

"I told you," O'Connell repeatedly firmly, "I already got him." It was obvious in his warm, sea blue eyes however that he was beginning to doubt this. As he looked to Burns he realised that whatever they had dealt with was stronger and more brutal than anything he had ever encountered before.

The leader shook his head in scorn with a look of pity. "We must now hunt him down, and try to find a way to stop him. Know this, the creature that hunts you he must consummate the curse, and until he does he will never sleep, he will never eat, and he will never stop."

"Who are you anyway?" Jonathan queried with a look of confusion. "And what curse do you mean?"

"My name is Ardeth Bay," the man introduced himself solemnly, "and I speak of the curse you recklessly ignored when you chose to read a book you had no understanding of, a curse that promises the plagues upon this land once more and death for all who foolishly ignored the warning."

"Warning?" Jess echoed as her eyes flickered across the others, suddenly hostile as they settled on Evelyn. "What did you read?" she demanded. "And why in the hell did you read it?"

Evelyn broke from O'Connell at last, only to shrink back from Jess' accusatory stare. "I..." She faltered slightly before shaking her head crossly. "I didn't believe in curses!"

"Your name is Carnahan!" Jess snapped angrily. "How can you not? You lost your own parents to one!"

Jonathan paled slightly at that unpleasant reminder whilst Evelyn just continued to look cross. "Nonsense!" she scorned.

"Really?" Jess retorted sardonically. "Was that monster in the cave nonsense too?"

"Monsters," Daniels echoed quietly. Feeling curious stares on him he frowned and explained, "there were other...mummies."

"Impossible," Ardeth dismissed with a wary look at the Texan.

"Hey!" Daniels snapped with his own glower. "I don't know exactly what I saw but I know I saw it damn it, and there were definitely others!" He released Burns' hand then to point at Jess. "She saw 'em too!"

Ardeth's eyes turned to Jess, turning down to the sickle in her hand as it flashed in the glow of the torches. He let out a wild cry without warning and went to spring for her. Everyone moved at once, Jess darted back, raising both sickle and gun defensively just as several other guns clicked and Rick raised his own.

"Everyone just calm down," Rick ordered in a voice that was forcefully calm. "Now, why are you going for her?"

"She carries the mark of Set!" Ardeth explained angrily as he held his scimitar at Jess threateningly. "On that weapon!"

"She took it for treasure," Daniels grumbled, "girl just saw something shiny to have is all."

Jess glanced at Daniels briefly as she wondered if he actually believed what he said or was trying to lie for her. She was unsure whether to be insulted or grateful and banished both thoughts as her stare turned back to Ardeth.

"You fools," Ardeth scorned, "coming here with no sense and only greed! Do you know what you may have brought on yourself with the mark of Set?"

"Is it worse than plagues and death?" Jonathan quipped sardonically with a tired look. The Englishman's arms were beginning to ache as he continued to hold them in the air, hoping that if things turned hostile he might yet live as the only agreeable one of the group.

"It is the wrath of Set himself," Ardeth explained darkly as he continued to hold Jess' stare, he did not see the naive gaze of a dumb thief there but rather the knowing crafty gaze of a jackal, a dangerous scavenger that knew exactly what it had taken.

"And he is?" Rick queried wearily.

"The god of chaos," Ardeth answered bluntly.

"I know his wrath already," Jess said in a low voice, "this," she raised the sickle slightly, "cannot bring upon me what is already there."

"Great," Rick grumbled sardonically as he lowered his gun at last and looked to Evelyn disapprovingly, "you bring a mummy upon us and she brings a chaos god, and you women wonder why no one will take you seriously as academics?"

Evelyn folded her arms and retorted churlishly, "I didn't open a chest with a curse on it."

"And I never said anything about being an academic," Jess muttered.

"That's what you find fault with?" Jonathan queried in disbelief. "Not the whole chaos god thing," he continued with a wave of his right hand, "just the academics? For a thief you don't pick your treasures well, forget the gold, nah, the cursed weapon is much better."

"Better than a mummy," came the childish retort.

"Enough," Ardeth said sternly, "you all need to leave, now before he recovers. All you can hope for now is that we find him before he finds you. Those of us that can be spared will see you safely from this place."

Jess gave Jonathan a biting smile at this. "And you say I bring the doom and gloom," she remarked dryly.

The group hastened then to pack up.

Jess lingered awkwardly near Burns beside a hastily stoked fire, giving a watery smile of promise to Henderson when he asked her to watch his friend while he packed their stuff.

Daniels busied himself in his own tent, pausing at his upturned fedora as he spied something glittering in it. He knelt down and frowned at the sight of a silver, ovular locket he was certain he had lost in the filthy streets of Cairo. He snatched it up, opening the stiff clasp to reveal the portrait of a young, fair skinned blonde with a faint blush on her milky cheeks and sparkling green eyes. With a scowl he snapped it shut suddenly, shoved it inside his shirt pocket and charged out of the tent with a look of fury.

"You!" he snapped at Jess suddenly. He hesitated slightly seeing how Burns' jumped at his voice, tensing slightly against the young woman before turning in the night with a moan as he tried to spy Daniels.

"Me," she retorted calmly with that same watery smile she had offered Henderson. She was just as shaken as the rest of them but making an effort to keep on a front, whether for herself or Burns was anyone's guess.

The blinded man was in agony, how he was still conscious at this point was a mystery, and no was quite sure what to do about his pain. His hand brushed against Jess' as if seeking confirmation that it was definitely a friend that had joined them.

Daniels felt disgust as he looked as his friend along with horror, still in too much shock to feel pity, like Henderson he hadn't quite registered just how serious his friend's condition was. "Er..." He tore his gaze away from Burns, focusing it on Jess once more as he felt his fury burn anew. "The necklace," he snapped at her, "you stole it!"

"And gave it back," she retorted defensively. "Look," she said hastily, "I didn't realise it was personal when I took it okay or I wouldn't have."

"And why did you bother returning it?" he snarled angrily. "Why now?"

"Well truthfully I would have returned it sooner but you were kind of an ass," she answered hotly as she looked up at him unflinchingly, "but I felt guilty about taking something with sentimental value and...well you were nice in a way, reluctantly, and for information, but still." She shrugged.

Burns attempted to listen attentively; the voices were a distraction from the pain if nothing else and now had him pondering about this necklace of Daniels. He had known David Daniels for a long time and the man had never struck him as the type to get silly trinkets, especially not when their only value was an emotional one. He thought hard, quickly welcoming the diversion, and guessed there was only one woman it could have belonged too. 'I didn't know he wanted a reminder of her,' he thought to himself curiously.

"You know what, you are a bloody jackal," Daniels snapped at her hotly, "why don't you scavenge elsewhere, we don't need you near us."

Jess glared up at the dark haired man but complied anyway, releasing Burns' hand and standing despite the moan of protest he gave. "Alright," she murmured quietly before she scurried off.

Daniels took her seat with some reluctance as he saw how Burns turned and twisted about anxiously. "It's alright Bernie," he murmured. He wanted to say 'you're safe' or something similar but it just seemed hollow, for one thing, what more could happen to the man and for another, how was he safe? Daniels was beginning to realise they had no clue what they had tampered with and what was hidden out here in the ancient sands.

Burns tried to gargle something in response but words failed him and instead hoarse sobs came out as salvia trickled down his chin.

Daniels put an arm around his friend and bowed his head wordlessly knowing that there was no way to make this right.


	8. Chapter 8- A Long Night

Rick looked to the endless sea of black rolling sand before them with a tired stare. They had ridden for at least three hours now and the night seemed no brighter or warmer. The sun would be gone for another six hours at least, it was a long time to be exposed out here but he knew they couldn't just travel through the night.

Ardeth Bay finally drew his camel to a halt and held up his right hand. Daniels looked at him in displeasure and mumbled an insult as he drew his horse to a standstill. It was anyone's guess why the nomad leader had decided to help guide them out. Rick was particularly suspicious over it given the man's desire to find and stop the mummy. HeHHH He wondered if Ardeth Bay's followers were more liable to kill rather than guide Rick's party if their leader wasn't here to keep them in check. There was no mistaking the loathing in the nomads' eyes for Evelyn and the suspicion they glowered at Jess with.

Rick rode at the head of the group with the hot-headed Daniels. They were followed by a sulky Evelyn who was too tired and fed up to be bothered with panic, Dr Chamberlain was almost level with her though he kept as much of a space between her and him as possible. Henderson followed them alongside Burns, the blonde's right hand firmly clutching the reins of Burns' horse. Jonathan and Jess brought up the rear, Jess riding on the late prison warden's camel. They were flanked by six nomads, with Ardeth Bay at the very front, the clear guide of the hurried midnight expedition.

"We will camp up there," Ardeth announced as he pointed ahead to a small cliff side of rock and sand. There was a statue of the ibis headed god Thoth resting on it, the beak half missing, and the gold enamel long worn and stolen away. Beside the statue was a small building of limestone, partially in ruination.

"What an odd place for a statue," Evelyn murmured. "Is that a shrine there?"

No one bothered answering the woman; instead they started moving towards the sandy hill. As they moved a low wind blew and all the torches were immediately snuffed out in it.

"Why does that keep happening?" Jonathan quipped with a nervous smile.

Rick felt his horse suddenly tense beneath him, it was his only warning sign before his and everyone else's mounts suddenly reared up in a panic. The eerie silence of the desert was momentarily broken as the horses whinnied and the camels groaned into the night as they reared and bucked relentlessly until their riders were tossed to the sands. To Jess her camel almost seemed to be screaming as if in pain and it only took seconds before she found herself flying through the air and then crashing inelegantly into the sand. As she raised her head, spitting sand as she did, it was in time to see the horses and camels racing off across the desert, lost from sight thanks to the sand they kicked up behind them.

"What the bloody hell was that all about?" Jonathan queried in outrage as he wiped sand from his eyes and righted his pith helmet. He looked about in shock as he felt the ground suddenly vibrate beneath him.

There were several unnatural wails as the sand seemed to explode around them as some things burst up from the primordial desert. One of the nomads let out a howl of horror as the sand burst up between his legs and he fought to tug out his scimitar. There was a gargling sound and Jess flinched as she saw a dark liquid splash onto the sand beside him before his head suddenly flopped backwards, barely hanging on at the neck. Jess' eyes widened as she saw his lifeless pupils roll back in his skull before he fell limp to the sands revealing the thing that had killed him.

It was something undead, Jess knew that from the bad smell alone, something old and forgotten, animated by rage and a disturbing bloodlust. It wasn't a mummy, but something similar, less formed, more spirit than body and yet solid enough to do damage. It was a wraith, with scraps of cloth rotted to black hanging off its bony form and tarnished jewellery clinging to it. There was a many layered necklace of gold, jade and emeralds, and bracelets of bronze and pearl. It had a skull like head with fangs for teeth and claws at the end of bony fingers. It moved low to the ground as if to slither across the sands like a snake.

BANG! BANG! As the gunfire erupted Jess finally snapped to her senses, pushing herself to her feet and tugging out her sickle.

"Head for the cliff, there we will be safe!" Ardeth shouted.

Henderson and Rick were both ready to question the surety in Ardeth's voice but having little other option they stayed silent, focusing instead on their foes. The party found themselves forced to scatter as the wraiths, unharmed by the bullets, lunged for them with low, hoarse hisses.

In the confusion Burns was lost, and found himself running about the dark sands blind, turning and twisting in alarm as he felt a dead, hot breath race along the back of his neck. He choked down a sob, certain the mummy had come for him again as he made out the odour of decay, an odour that would haunt his nightmares for the rest of his days. He fumbled for his gun, swinging it about in a panic before letting out a groan of frustration as he knew he could not shoot it without risking harm to his friends. He wanted to call out to Daniels and Henderson but without his tongue he could not form the words and only drool seeped out.

Jonathan darted along the desert like a madman, clinging to his hat with one hand as he did. He let out a scream when a nomad running beside him was suddenly dragged down and back by his feet. Jonathan glanced back and immediately regretted it as he saw claws sinking into the man's back and raking down it, drawing blood as they did. "Come to Hamunaptra they said," he grumbled as he continued to flee, "there will be treasure they said. I don't even have one coin to show for this curse!"

Dr Chamberlain let out a grunt of pain as he unwittingly collided with Burns. Both men tumbled to the ground in a heap of limbs and struggled to separate themselves from one another. Burns let out several incoherent sounds that were meant to sound threatening but failed as the tremble in his hands betrayed him. The nozzle of his gun pointed at Dr. Chamberlain's alarmed face briefly before Burns turned left and then right with it in confusion.

The Egyptologist's brown eyes darted to the right as he heard a rattled hiss. His skin turned white and his eyes went wide as he saw a wraith heading their way. He stood just as Burns did and thought coldly, 'it would be a mercy; he has only a half life now.'

Burns let out a gasp of surprise as he was shoved hard to the ground. He tried to cry 'wait' to whoever had pushed him but only a gargle came out. He froze up suddenly hearing a hiss before letting out a scream of pain as claws slashed violently across his face and sent him reeling back.

The wraith halted before it could strike out again at the fallen American, pausing in a moment of confusion. Embedded in the creature's skull was a bronze sickle. Jess, who was on the higher point of a slope in the sands, kicked hard at the thing's neck just as she tugged out the sickle. It had the desired effect; the head seemed to crumble down onto the thing's shoulders as the thin neck crumbled to dust with the blow.

"Run Mr. Burns!" she yelled. "Turn left and run straight! Run!"

Burns snapped out of his trance, wincing as the numbness in his cheek turned to a fiery pain and he became aware of the blood dripping down his cheek. He wiped it with one hand, smearing fresh blood across his face before he obeyed Jess and stood up, turning to the left before he ran. He stumbled several times as he moved, his feet catching against sandy slopes he couldn't see and rocks that appeared and disappeared with the now ever present cold breeze. The wind was icy against the American's skin and he felt his skin bubble up with goose bumps as the breeze seemed to grow sharper and colder by the minute.

"Keep going!" Jess shrieked.

She was behind him this time; it gave him a small measure of comfort to know that. When he tripped over a rock and fell to his knees her small hands were quick to rouse him to his feet again before she barked at him to run once more.

Under the pale, ghostly light of the moon they finally reached the bottom of the cliff side. Jess was quick to grab Burns' right hand and pull him to a halt before he collided against it. She glanced nervously back hearing hisses and her eyes went wide as she saw three of the wraiths hastening towards them, propelling their bodies up and down through the sand, leaping out of it as if it were water.

"There's a cliff," she explained hastily as she raised Burns' right hand up and pressed it against a hold in the rocky side. "You have to climb, get moving!" She craned her neck upwards and saw Henderson not too far up, scaling the cliff with little effort. "Mr. Henderson!" she shouted, her voice barely audible over the shrieks and wind. She cupped one hand round her mouth and yelled again, this time as loud as she could manage. "MR. HENDERSON!"

The blonde froze and looked down in surprise, his hat sloping down his brow as he did. He squinted in the darkness as he dared to release his left hand grip to push his hat up. He saw two forms, one jumping up and down and waving to him anxiously and another struggling and failing to climb the cliff. "Bernie?!" he gasped in disbelief. He started scaling down then, his blue eyes widening as he saw a form different to the wraiths moving towards Burns and Jess with a fierce determination.

Burns finally, with Jess' help, got a foothold and was able to start climbing. Henderson's right hand swung down as he shouted a warning to Burns and Jess. His hand grasped Burns' flailing hand just in time and he pulled him up as the strange new form collided hard with Jess as she started to climb. Henderson was too occupied with helping Burns up to see where Jess went to but he heard the snarl and felt the rush of wind as she was taken from the cliff side and he knew that she was gone.

Jess fell hard on her back, gasping as the wind rushed from her lungs. She winced as her eyes watered and she felt blood trickling out of her nostrils. She opened her eyes at last and immediately regretted it. The form towering above her was more humanoid than the wraiths. It was wearing a rotting kilt of dyed red linen and gold, at its rotted legs were patches of fur, dark in the night, and on its decayed head was a mask that for a moment she mistook for a very real face. She felt her body tremble and her bladder threaten to weaken at the sight; it was her nightmares made real, the face of the monstrous god that haunted her night and day- the canine face of chaos.

BANG! Only when the black and gilded mask shattered with the impact of the bullet did Jess realise it was a mask. The illusion ruined, she was able to get a hold of her senses just in time to roll and avoid the blade that came down. She rolled once more to create distance before pushing herself upright again. She screamed when she was dragged down just as fast by a powerful hand and then kicked in the back. Her eyes, ears, mouth and nostrils filled with sand as her face was planted into it. Panic surged through her when a foot pressed down hard on the back of her skull, embedding her face deep into the sand, suffocating her in it.

Jess struggled hard, flailing like a fish as her arms and legs swung in all directions in a vain attempt to free her.

BANG! BANG! Daniels and Rick both shot at the creature but it ignored the bullets as if they were flies. Taken over by a moment of insanity, Rick let out a sudden roar and charged at the thing. Daniels could only stand and watch with both horror and admiration for his fellow American as he tackled the thing as if they were playing a sport.

Both forms hit the sands hard with the force of Rick's tackle. Daniels seized that moment to rush to Jess, struggling to juggle his gun and reach to her as he crouched beside her. Daniels was forced to holster his gun just as Rick let off a close range shot into the thing's gut. Jess wasn't moving. Daniels yanked her up from the sand and turned her over, in the moonlight she looked almost blue, it wasn't a hopeful sight.

"Aw shit," the Texan cursed mournfully as he leaned down to her and tilted her head slightly as if to loosen the sand from her. Her lips were shiny with blood from her nose, it gleamed a deep scarlet, almost black in the night.

"Daniels get her up!" Rick shouted at him as he continued to wrestle with the fiend, his hand about its rotted throat as it pulled at his right shoulder.

"I...I can't," Daniels choked out. This was too familiar, a limp woman in his arms, blood at her lips, still no matter how he shook her, how much he pleaded. The difference was Jess' eyes were closed, a small mercy he supposed, he didn't need another pair of glassy eyes to haunt him.

She let out a small, brief gasp before the choking started and her eyes flashed open, wide and confused but mercifully full of life. "Daddy put down the knife," she choked out pleadingly, "mummy can't see anymore."

Daniels frowned at her words before dismissing them, now was definitely not the time to be puzzling over that.

The haze of confusion faded from Jess' eyes just as Rick let off another shot and yelled, "RUN ALREADY!"

Daniels and Jess hastened to their feet together and started running alongside Rick, none of them daring to turn back and see the foe they could hear snarling and spitting behind them, close at their heels. They dodged to the left to avoid a wraith and then jumped over a small mound of sand before they reached the cliff together, panting heavily as they did. Daniels was swift in loosening his wounded arm from its makeshift sling knowing he needed both hands to climb.

Jonathan and Evelyn's inquisitive faces peered over the edge of the cliff as they heard the commotion from below. "CLIMB! CLIMB!" The siblings both yelled anxiously as they saw what was coming at them fast from behind.

Ardeth appeared too with another nomad, both ready with guns. "They can't climb up here!" Ardeth called reassuringly as three faces looked up at him anxiously.

BANG!

"Shit," Daniels cursed as the bullet whizzed past just above his hat and sank into a wraith's skull, delaying it for a few precious seconds.

Jess winced as her burned leg throbbed in pain and scraped against the cliff side uselessly.

"Faster chaps!" Jonathan called. "And don't look down, definitely don't look down!"

Jess lagged behind, gritting her teeth to the pain in her leg as a cold sweat coated her palms and made it even harder to get a grip against the small juts in the rock.

"Come on Miss Jess!" Henderson called out as he finally appeared in sight, gun at the ready. "Keep going, not much further!"

Jess grumbled a curse, to her it may as well have been a hundred feet given the aches rushing up her leg, it was tingling now and refusing to bend right for her foot to get a good position. She let out a yelp of pain when the formerly masked fiend jumped into the air and its claws raked down her right leg, drawing fresh blood. Terrified, she froze up against the cliff face, not daring to move.

Daniels and Rick both looked down at the yelp, their eyes widening as they realised just how far behind them the woman was. "Come on Jess!" Rick snapped down at her. "You have to keep moving!"

She was shaking her head now and muttering under her breath incoherently.

"Hang on Miss Jess; I'll come down for you!" Henderson offered in a moment of bravado, he had seen how she had gotten Burns to safety before herself, he knew they owed her.

"Don't be daft Henry!" Daniels shouted back to him as he glared up at his friend. "I'm closer!" He sighed and grumbled a curse before he started to move back down, slow and tensing when he heard the creature from below springing up again with a snarl, this time it thankfully missed Jess. He was in no mood for the woman's moment of panic but he knew if he didn't go for her Henderson would.

"Careful Daniels, watch that arm of yours!" Rick called warningly. "Start moving already Jess!" He stayed where he was, prepared to climb back down if necessary though the sight of the wraiths made that thought less than appealing. They were waiting there, their heads turned up with empty eyes as they were hopeful for someone falling.

Daniels finally found himself within reach of the woman. "Alright, give me your hand," he called down to her commandingly.

Either Jess did not hear Daniels or was simply ignoring him for all she murmured was, "I don't want to see. I don't want to see."

"Then don't look," he scorned her as he held out his hand, digging his feet deep into the cliff side as his injured arm screamed in pain as he stretched it out to her.

"Mummy can't see!" she shrieked it out before her head snapped up and her wide eyes looked to Daniels. There was that clouded confusion as if she were elsewhere before it faded fast to that intelligent spark she usually bore. She grasped his hand then and he pulled hard just as the almost human attacker leaped again. Its claws waved uselessly through the air, missing her feet by a mere inch.

Daniels and Jess climbed together, soon catching up to Rick who kept an eye on the woman as he climbed, making sure not to go faster than her. It was with great relief that they reached the top and allowed themselves to be pulled up by their friends. Limbs aching, they moved slowly across the cliff top. All three were quietly delighted to see a fire lit and burning bright in the cold night. The fire had been formed hastily by torches the nomads had on their persons, some oil Evelyn had on hers, scraps of black cloth cut from the nomad's robes, and Henderson's matches and tobacco snuff. It burned in the safety of the small building in which Burns was taking refuge.

The building had two columns at its entrance with numerous engravings on them, many of which were worn away. Part of one wall had broken and part of the ceiling lay in its place in cracked blocks but it still offered some shelter, which was better than nothing. It was small and as they slowly ventured inside they saw that there was little to it. There was a lone, broken, dust covered, stone table on which statues, now pilfered, had probably sat. Any other furniture was now in unrecognisable ruination and any relics were long gone.

"We will stay here until the dawn," Ardeth announced solemnly as he took up a post by the entrance.

"It's freezing," Evelyn murmured as she hugged herself tight and moved to the fire.

"We should stay close," Rick mused as he sat beside her and gave an innocent smile when she turned in his direction, "you know, for body heat."

"How on earth did you manage to climb with that thing?" Jonathan queried the pallid Allen Chamberlain with an incredulous look at the black book he clutched at.

The Egyptologist sat silently in the shadows of the room, back against the wall as he kept a wary stare on Evelyn as if daring her to try and snatch the book from him.

"I've already read from it," the woman snapped at him crossly with a glower.

"You saved Bernie," Henderson blurted out as he approached Jess as she limped into the building.

Jess looked from the blonde to the blind man with a dark expression. "No," she retorted bleakly in a quiet voice, "unfortunately I didn't."

Dr. Chamberlain looked to Jess sharply as he wondered if she had seen him pushing that wretched Burns away. When the woman didn't even bother glancing his way he decided to himself that she probably hadn't seen anything and even if she had, he could always deny it or claim it had been a dreadful accident.

Henderson and Daniels both filled with guilt as they followed Jess' gaze to their wounded friend. Ardeth had offered him something for his pains but the effects of it were getting briefer and briefer and it never completely numbed the pain for the man.

"We'll fix it," Henderson vowed recklessly with a serious stare, "we will."

"Let's just get warmed up," Daniels grumbled as he led the way to the fire, sitting down opposite Rick and Evelyn.

Rick gave Daniels a smirk through the amber flames, glancing pointedly at his battered fedora. "Hey Daniels isn't that my hat?" he quipped tauntingly.

Daniels gritted his teeth before he plucked it off and plonked it on Jess' head. "No, it's hers," he answered flatly. The Texan then started to fumble with his injured arm, the entire limb felt like it was ablaze and it was awkward trying to fit it back through the brown, leather sling.

"Let me," Jess offered quietly as she saw him struggle.

Daniels did not retort but offered the wounded limb out to her with a calm, indigo stare. He watched thoughtfully as her cheeks darkened slightly as she undid the bandage and then redid it before slipping the arm through the sling carefully. Her fingers were cold against his arm and yet he didn't mind, he found it almost soothing. "Thanks," he murmured bluntly when she was done.

"Can I have a look if I promise not to read it?" Jonathan queried innocently as he sat down beside Dr. Chamberlain and held out a hand.

Dr. Chamberlain looked at his fellow Englishman as if he were a beetle and wrinkled his nose in disgust before shrinking back slightly with a grunt of displeasure.

As the night wore on and the fire grew low they all seemed to move into one another to share both body heat and the safety of numbers. Ardeth and his two remaining men remained alert throughout, their robes occasionally dragging softly along the stone floor as they swapped positions. Jonathan and Dr Chamberlain nodded off against each other; their heads sloped against the other's. Evelyn and Rick coiled around each other, snuggling as close as they could, Rick wrapping his arms tight around the Englishwoman as she shivered against him. Henderson and Burns were back to back, Burns facing the fire whilst Henderson faced the open doorway and kept one eye on it for as long as he could. Daniels leaned back against a limestone block and stretched his legs out, reluctantly welcoming Jess when she sleepily moved into him before nodding off with her head in his lap. On another night he might have dismissed her but right now he was too tired and too cold. Yes he was still mad at her, she had taken something precious from him and left him distraught over its loss for days but she had also saved his friend. Then there was that confused, frightened look in her eyes as she had screamed about her mother being unable to see, that had disturbed him but it also made him sympathetic to the woman. He knew from that haunted stare of hers that she had seen something terrible, perhaps even worse than the horrors they had viewed tonight.

"Jessie, my little bunny wake up."

Jess stirred sleepily at the voice, certain it was part of a dream she just as quickly dismissed it.

"Little bunny wake up."

Her eyes flickered open then at the honeyed voice that called to her, as hopeful as she was suspicious. The building was dim, the fire now faintly glowing red ashes, and for a moment it was hard to distinguish the form standing near it, still with its back to the woman.

"Little bunny are you awake?"

Jess felt her throat tighten, knowing whose voice it was that called from that figure. It was impossible, she knew it was and yet she called back anyway in a voice soft and uncertain. "Mother?"

The figure turned revealing the pallid face of a woman with her eyes gouged out and her mouth slit open from ear to ear giving the appearance of a disturbing, bloody smile. Jess let out a scream of horror before she could help herself.

Ardeth turned sharply from the entrance he had been peering out of, scimitar raised at the ready as his two men immediately lifted their guns as everyone else awoke in a fluster. Rick and Henderson's guns clicked as they hastened into action, moving to stand and search for the danger.

"What's going on?" Dr. Chamberlain snapped anxiously as he pushed Jonathan off his shoulder and fumbled for the book, which had slipped from his clutches to the floor.

"We're not under attack again are we?" Jonathan queried wearily as he rubbed at his neck with his right hand. "You're rather bony you know," he chided the Egyptologist.

"Jess?" Daniels quipped as he noticed the woman upright, stiff and staring directly beside the fire as if something was there.

"The girl had a nightmare," Ardeth explained calmly as he took a step towards her. "Or perhaps a vision from Set," he added scornfully.

"Ah good," Jonathan chirped with a smile. His smile wilted slightly at the glower Henderson gave him and Evelyn's chiding tut. "Oh I don't mean that," he retorted hastily, "just that it's good there's no mummy."

"No eyes," Jess muttered hoarsely, "no eyes, mummy can't see."

"What horror did Set plague you with?" Ardeth demanded as he cast the girl in his shadow, blocking her sight of whatever she thought was beside the fire.

When Ardeth moved into her vision, banishing the horror of her undead mother, Jess flinched and her eyes rolled up to the nomad in confusion. She was so pale she looked grey in the faint light and her skin was shiny with sweat. Ardeth noted the cloudiness at the edge of her eyes and wondered if the wound that created her limp was starting to become infected. "What chaos did you bring on yourself?"

"It was just a nightmare," Evelyn remarked haughtily, "no need to assume a god was involved. Leave the poor woman alone."

Daniels reached out a hand to the woman and found her own burning and sweaty. "Jess," he called to her, prompting her to turn his way sharply. "Are you alright?" He saw the same thing Ardeth did- sweaty skin, an unhealthy pallor, and a fogginess in her gaze.

She shook her head and made as if to withdraw from the American, pausing when she heard footsteps on the ground. It was Henderson, who stopped at her left side and crouched before her with a curious look. "Was it a bad dream?" he queried with a small, kind smile.

Jess turned to the blonde this time and retorted quietly, "somewhat."

Henderson frowned and pressed the back of his hand against her brow. "You're burning up," he scorned. "That leg of yours must have gotten worse."

"It's fine," she murmured as she shook off his hand and finally seemed to return to her senses.

"It's the wrath of Set, between him and the creature none of you will have long now," Ardeth warned.

"Ah the doom and gloom again," Jonathan commented with fake cheerfulness, "I suppose it has been at least two hours since we last had that."

"Okay you," Rick addressed Ardeth bluntly as he pointed at him, "enough of the curses and death, save it for morning. And you, Jonathan, leave Dr. Chamberlain alone already, the man doesn't deserve to be elbowed constantly, the building's big enough for all of us. And you, Jess, no more nightmares, let's just get through this night already."

"And then what?" Daniels queried testily.

"And then we continue on our way to Cairo, hopefully without anymore mummies Mr. Daniels," Rick answered flatly as he lay back down. "Now, if anyone else wants to stay awake they can go outside and keep watch for mummies."

"Off to sleep then," Jonathan remarked brightly as he nestled back against the wall but not before forking his tongue out at Dr. Chamberlain childishly.

Henderson sighed before glancing from Jess to Daniels and then back to Burns. Burns had remained quiet throughout the brief ordeal but was noticeably troubled as he turned about the room searchingly, his hands reaching out across the floor as if hoping to brush against someone. "I'll go back to Bernie," the blonde said quietly. "David be nice and keep an eye on Miss Jess, she's getting feverish whether she wants to admit to it or not."

"I'll be fine," Jess grumbled.

"I don't doubt it," Henderson retorted with a grin before he finally retreated back to Burns. He gave his friend's right shoulder a consoling squeeze before he took a seat beside him.

Ardeth finally retreated leaving Jess to tense and squint at the fireside once more but there was no one there.

"Has it gone?" Daniels queried quietly.

"Huh?" Jess turned and looked at the Texan in puzzlement.

"Whatever you think you saw standing by that fire, has it gone?" Daniels asked.

"Yes, it was just...a dream," she retorted weakly even as she turned back to the fire with uncertainty.

"Stop staring then," he advised bluntly as he leaned back against the block behind him.

She gave him an annoyed look before making as if to move away from him but his hand grasped her sweaty fingers once more and held her in place. "You might be burning up but I'm still bloody freezing," he chided, "so just stay where you are."

Jess frowned but obeyed anyway, moving back up beside Daniels. She lay beside him with her head upright against the limestone block as she kept a suspicious stare on the spot beside the fire.

"Stop looking," Daniels murmured in her ear as he placed his hands across his stomach and shut his eyes tiredly.

The party arose a couple of hours after dawn, which came hot and golden, seeming to banish the spectre of the night, and turning the merciless blue seas of sand to a rich, enticing gold. The white light of the rising sun pierced through the gaps of the ruined building warming and awakening the weary adventurers one by one.

Henderson snickered when he spied Jess lying with her head on Daniels' chest and murmured teasingly, "you cosy David?"

Daniels glared up at his friend with a heated indigo gaze before he made to shift the young woman. He realised his shirt had a damp patch where her head was resting and frowned as he guessed it was sweat. The woman let out a groan that sounded as if she were in pain when he tried to move her, prompting him to murmur, "it's okay, time to go is all."

Jess opened her eyes at last, they were bloodshot and still a little clouded at the edges. She rubbed them tiredly with one hand before tugging off the fedora, finding it heavy and uncomfortable on her sore head. She passed the hat to Daniels with another groan before rubbing at her frizzy hair and attempting to stand. She wobbled and leaned to the right slightly before resting on her knees with a weary look.

Ardeth and his companions passed round the canteens of water they had and Jess was quick to take a deep gulp from one when it came her way, telling herself that she was merely suffering from thirst and fatigue.

"Can I see your leg?" Ardeth quipped as he stood before Jess once more. "I might be able to help."

Jess frowned up at him and grumbled, "how, by cutting it off to appease Set?"

Henderson let out an appreciative snort at that whilst Jonathan paled at the thought and Rick shook his head scornfully.

Ardeth gave the woman a scolding look in response before replying calmly, "by treating it to undo whatever infection may have come upon it."

Jess sighed and, deciding there was little to lose, she stretched out the offending limb with a wince and rolled up her trouser leg to expose the bandaged wound. The bandage was now a golden brown with drying pus and blood.

"Hmm maybe I was mistaken," Ardeth mused dryly, "maybe it's not Set trying to kill you, seems you might be able to kill yourself without help."

"I'd have got it looked at in Cairo," she murmured sulkily.

The nomad kneeled down before her and extended out two hands, pausing to look at her questioningly. "May I?" he queried politely. Jess nodded and he hastily undid the foul bandage, discarding it to one side with ease.

Henderson wrinkled his nose slightly at the sight of the wound. He had seen worse and for a burn it wasn't bad and the infection was mild but it was still a budding infection and the wound was still sore looking. The skin was swollen and red around the exposed wound, which had drying flecks of golden-brown at its edges and a thick blood congealing at its centre.

Ardeth hunted in his robes before producing a small, brown, clay jar with a cork stopper in it. "This will sting," he warned, "but it will clear the worst of it." He tugged out the cork and poured its contents liberally onto the wound without waiting for permission.

Jess let out a hiss of pain followed by several curses.

"Most unlady like," Dr. Chamberlain chided.

"Really?" Jess snapped sardonically through gritted teeth. "Only now am I unlady like?"

"She makes a valid point," Rick commented approvingly.

Ardeth pocketed the now empty jar and tugged out a small pot. "A balm to help the wound heal quicker," he explained before opening the pot. Inside was a pale green tinted cream that he rubbed onto the wound gently. Once this was done he cut off a strip of cloth from his robe with a dagger and used this to re-bandage the wound, pinning it together with a brass clip Evelyn offered hastily.

"Thanks," Jess remarked grudgingly before she allowed the nomad to help her to her feet. "You're nice for a man who thinks I've brought the wrath of a chaos god onto the country."

"And a creature who will bring forth the plagues of Egypt," Ardeth added frostily.

"That wasn't me," Jess answered defensively, "I just happened to be there, by coincidence, guilt by association."

"Oh really," Evelyn grumbled as she threw her hands up in the air in mock desperation and rolled her eyes, "I'm sorry I read from the book, alright!"

"Good, I'm sure that's all our undead friend needed to hear," Rick joked, "now that you've apologised he'll go right back to sleeping in the desert."

Evelyn gave him an unimpressed glower as she lowered her arms and folded them. "How was I to know a mummy could be brought back to life? Did you know that Mr. O'Connell?"

"No but I wasn't the one who tempted fate."

"Well they broke the chest!" Evelyn snapped as she gestured across to Daniels, Henderson and Burns.

"And they've been cursed too, don't worry," Rick continued to mock, "the mummy won't play favourites I'm sure."

"That is not a thing to joke about," Henderson snarled angrily as Burns let out a slight whimper.

Rick had the grace to look apologetic as he glanced over at the blonde and his blind companion. "You're right, let's just get to Cairo already."


	9. Chapter 9- Family History

They reached the trading post just as the swollen, full moon started rising and cast them all in a forgiving white light. They were exhausted from walking for so long and so far, kept going by the thought of all the horrors following them in desert. The canteens were all drained dry and everyone was irritable from heat, fatigue, hunger and thirst.

"We'll stop here," Ardeth allowed, knowing that no one was going to be persuaded to keep going through the night.

"Hopefully they'll sell us some food cheap," Rick murmured.

"And horses," Henderson grumbled, "I'm sick of walking." He was at the back of the group matching pace with a noticeably disoriented Jess who had, for the past hour, been stumbling rather than walking, and murmuring incoherently under her breath.

"Gentlemen it's all in the art of negotiation," Jonathan commented brightly as he stepped forward, "first, let's see about joining their camp." He looked to the glowing fire hopefully, his stomach letting out an eager grumble as he smelt the meat cooking in the air. "That's definitely not rat," he remarked happily as he hurried on.

Daniels halted with Burns to watch Jonathan. The Englishman greeted the Bedouin traders with a grin, talking briskly and gesturing several times to the Americans happily. Daniels frowned as he was certain he caught the words 'gullible', 'dollars' and 'gold' on the air. Yet even he couldn't resist when the trader and Jonathan both turned to the sorry looking group with grins and waved them over.

"This wonderful chap says we can join their camp," Jonathan remarked happily, "in fact he says we can have supper too so long as we promise to trade fairly in the morning." He let out a laugh at that.

"Trade what?" Daniels grumbled with a suspicious look.

"Maybe your hat Daniels," Rick jested.

"Oh who cares," Evelyn snapped, "I'm starving!"

The group moved to settle at the camp. Evelyn glanced back for Jess, frowning when she saw how the girl still looked a sickly grey and was sweating despite the cool evening air. She waited for the woman and Henderson to reach her and held out a helpful hand. "Come on," she said kindly, "let's get close to the fire."

"No," Jess protested almost sleepily, "I'm too warm."

"Come on Miss er...Jess we need to burn that fever out of you," Evelyn urged more firmly as she tugged the woman on.

They flopped down around the fire with only the briefest of greeting to the traders, leaving Jonathan to play the charismatic charmer of the party. When they were given some cooked chicken, bread and wine, all of which Jess refused, they became a little more talkative.

Within thirty minutes everyone felt a tad better and Jess had nodded off uneasily into a sweaty slumber.

"Danny? Danny where are you?" Jess startled everyone with her mumbling.

"Danny?" Jonathan echoed curiously as he peered from her to Daniels. "Does she mean you?"

"No," Daniels snapped back with a scowl as he leaned back into the sand. "Daniels is my last name, why the hell would she would turn that into Danny?"

"Richard, oh God Richard!" she called out followed by a moan.

Evelyn sighed and extended out a tender hand to the woman's brow. "She's burning up badly," she murmured with a look of sympathy.

"Richard?" Jonathan repeated again as his curious gaze fell on Rick.

"No Jonathan," Rick remarked flatly, "not me either. Seriously, when have you heard anyone call me Richard?"

"Richard where's Edward? Oh God where is he?"

"Girl knows a lot of men," Dr. Chamberlain grumbled nastily. As usual he sat with the group and yet aloof from them, a few inches back from the fire and out of the small circle and yet still within the safety of the camp and close enough to appreciate the warmth of the flames.

"Mummy can't see," Jess sobbed out.

"Not that again," Daniels grumbled darkly.

"What again?" Rick demanded as he picked up on the American's grumbles.

Daniels looked across the fire at Rick and shrugged. "Nothing, girl's having another nightmare."

"Johnny," Henderson queried suddenly with a thoughtful look, "do you know the name Thornwood?"

Burns gave a groan of protest that the blonde ignored. Burns frowned, wishing sorely that he could see his friend to give him an angry shove. Jess had told them her family name in confidence, alright Daniels had somewhat forced it out of her but still, Burns knew she had expected them not to talk about it even if she hadn't been explicit about it.

"Thornwood?" Jonathan retorted with a perplexed look. He raised the wooden cup of wine in his hand and took a deep gulp before suddenly spitting it out again causing the fire to flare up briefly.

"What the hell?" Daniels snarled as he sat upright in alarm whilst Rick cursed and Henderson laughed.

"Jonathan what is it?" Evelyn quipped as she leaned across to her brother.

"Thornwood!" Jonathan repeated with an excited looked. "Evie don't you remember? We knew them once, briefly, our parents and Lord and Lady Thornwood were acquainted when we were in England."

"Lord and Lady?" Daniels sneered followed by a snort of contempt.

"Yes," Jonathan continued excitedly whilst Evelyn just looked confused, "of Thornwood Manor, they owned a lot of land in the country, born to it of course, eighth cousins to royalty or something like that. Six sons and one daughter, Lady Thornwood came from Ireland, they had another home there too." He leaned past his sister to peer down at the unconscious Jess. "Let me think, Richard was the eldest, yes, five years older than me, then there was...Lorcan, Corbin, Edward, Daniel, and Fergus, he was the youngest, last born, the sister came before him...Jessica!" he cried it out with a snap of fingers.

"Jessica?" Evelyn and Rick repeated dubiously at the same time. They shared a look and Evelyn blushed as Rick grinned.

Jonathan nodded confidently. "Yes, but..." He frowned and shuddered.

"What is it Johnny?" Henderson pressed for information.

"Oh Evelyn don't you remember?" Jonathan remarked with a look of frustration. "That family became infamous."

Evelyn continued to look confused for a moment before her eyes seemed to fill with a spark of knowledge. "Oh yes, Lord Thornwood was an explorer like our father, he was meant to be with them looking for Tutankhamen only...oh dear..." She trailed off and gave Jess a look of sorrow. "He died didn't he?" She made it a question but the certainty was clear in her hazel eyes.

"If only it were so simple," Jonathan grumbled, "he didn't just die Evie."

"What does that mean?" Rick quipped suspiciously.

Dr. Chamberlain spoke up then in a low voice, startling them all with his sudden intrusion into the conversation, "Lord Thornwood is famous for two things, unearthing a forgotten temple to Set about fourteen years ago, and going mad and murdering his family months after."

"What?" Henderson demanded sharply as he looked at the Egyptologist in horror. "Come on, that's not funny."

"It's true," Jonathan remarked sombrely, "no one is sure of the details of course, they say he came back from Egypt with his son, Richard, rich and happy but then... Well he gradually got rid of his servants, they said there was a curse on the family but no one listened, I mean they were servants and they had been let go."

"He killed his family," Daniels remarked grimly, "six sons, just like that?"

"Well," Jonathan answered weakly, "it wasn't...I mean...it was just them in that house for months and there was all this talk of a disease from Egypt that had infected them, something contagious, so no one went near it and no one came out from it either." He swallowed hard. "Rumours mentioned survivors, some said a son, or a daughter," he added as he looked pointedly at Jess again, "maybe both, maybe none, maybe a maid as well."

"Survivors of what?" Henderson asked hoarsely. "How did the man kill his entire family, or most of them anyway?"

"Gradually," Dr. Chamberlain commented icily as he peered at them calmly, one eye glinting from behind a monocle, "according to reports they were all tortured before they were killed. People said the man must have been possessed. His brother was the one to intrude, he went to the house and found it all, a son missing his ears, another...well no longer a man, and his wife, blind and grinning from ear to ear."

"Jesus fucking Christ," Daniels cursed bluntly as his eyes rolled down to the now trembling Jess.

"How...I mean if she's the same, how did she end up out here?" Henderson wondered aloud.

"What do you meant the same?" Rick queried suddenly as he looked to Henderson suspiciously. "Why did you even ask about the name Thornwood? Did she tell you that was her name?"

"Yes," Henderson confessed gruffly, wincing as Burns made a point of nipping his hand. "I'm sorry Bernie," he grumbled, "I know I shouldn't have said nothin' but I was curious."

"Wait she is the Jessica Thornwood then?" Jonathan marvelled. "But how did she end up out here?"

"How did any of us?" Daniels queried sardonically.

"And why?" Rick pondered.

"So her father found Set's temple and cursed the family," Ardeth concluded darkly, making it clear that he had been listening in on their conversation, "but that wasn't enough of a lesson for her?"

"That's hardly fair," Evelyn chided him, "you don't know her and none of us knows what she was looking for in Hamunaptra." She sighed and hugged her knees close with a shake of her head. "What were any of us looking for?" she wondered aloud in despair.

"Let's not talk about it anymore," Henderson grumbled.

"Mummy can't see," Jess choked out, "daddy put down the knife, mummy can't see." Her eyes suddenly snapped open, bloodshot with huge pupils as she shot upright, almost banging into Evelyn as she did. She backed across the sand just as suddenly, both palms moving rapidly as she let out several sharp pants and her eyes rolled about in confusion. She tensed when she banged into Daniels and turned her head suddenly to face him.

"It's alright jackal," he murmured tiredly, "we're just at camp."

She looked at him in bewilderment and let out a groan of pain, turning her head left and right as one hand reached up to touch her burning brow. "What?" she gasped out. Her head felt like it was on fire and everything seemed to have an odd, blurred, glowing quality to it.

"Here," Evelyn said as she leaned forward across the sand to reach the woman.

The movement startled Jess as she turned sharply, enough to hurt her neck, and backed into Daniels instinctively even as she raised her sickle defensively.

Daniels sighed as her crown banged against his chin even as Rick approached her from the left side, catching her by surprise as he grabbed her hand, restraining it.

"Let go!" she protested.

"Put down the sickle and I'll let go," Rick retorted calmly, "we don't need an injury because you're feverish and don't know what you're doing."

"Oh really," Evelyn scolded him, "you're frightening her! Jess, look at me, I've got some water for you."

Jess turned back to the woman with uncertainty and looked down at the canteen in her hand. She reached for it with her free hand and pulled it back before grumbling, "I need two hands to open it."

"Drop the sickle," Rick ordered.

Jess sighed before letting the sickle hit the ground harmlessly. Rick released her hand and she was quick to tug out the stopper in the canteen and gulp down its contents greedily.

"Slow," Rick advised.

Jess stopped and held the canteen back to Evelyn, only she swayed it left and right as if uncertain where Evelyn was. "Thanks," she murmured as she rubbed at her sweaty brow once more.

Evelyn accepted the canteen with a smile. "You should go back to sleep," she advised, "you need your rest."

"Right," Jess murmured wearily as her brief moment of clarity became lost and her gaze turned cloudy again, "right...mummy can't see though, mummy needs to see."

"Alright jackal, enough of that," Daniels grumbled.

"Jesh," Burns tried to state firmly in an attempt to rebuke Daniels but his voice failed him and he sagged with misery.

Henderson shrugged off his mustard coloured vest and moved back to Jess, bundling it over her shoulders gently. "You need to keep warm Miss Jess, just lie down and get comfortable again."

"No," she mumbled, "no Richard something's not right, can't sleep, please, something's not right."

Henderson tried to pull her back gently with both hands but she surprised him and Daniels by grasping at the Texan suddenly with both hands.

"No!" she shrieked. "Daddy let go! Let go! Oh God daddy let go!" She started to sob and both men exchanged a look of revulsion.

"Let her go Henry," Daniels advised quietly, "we'll get no peace if you don't."

Henderson sighed and obeyed, moving back to Burns who gargled in confusion, "Jesh?"

"She's...she's alright," Henderson retorted weakly, failing to disguise the lie in his words.

The group fell into an uneasy silence after that, save for Jess' confused whimpers. When she grew a little calmer, Daniels finally eased her off him, welcoming Evelyn's help in positioning the woman into a slightly more comfortable position near the fire and beneath Henderson's vest. Almost as an afterthought, Daniels tugged off his fedora and rested it on her head, tipping the brow down so that her face was lost beneath it. "There," he murmured quietly, "now you can't see anything nasty."

* * *

It was as they spied Fort Brydon that the group filled with relief. A lasting sign of foreign rule, the fort stood as both part of Cairo and apart from it, a building of military strength, dignitaries and the odd tourist who was of wealth or interest or both. Ardeth and his followers had finally left them; assured that whilst they were by no means safe they were no longer vulnerable to the desert at least.

"Well you can't do much better than a fort," Rick commented hopefully as he led the tired and dusty group upon his camel.

"Ain't it a sight for sore eyes," Henderson remarked with a look of subdued pleasure. "We'll get you help here Bernie," he said confidently, "food, good bed, bath too and then..." He trailed off and glanced past Burns to Daniels.

The three Americans rode side by side, no longer proud adventurers eager for a thrill, they were noticeably drained, quiet and pale. Daniels and Henderson were taking turns to support Burns between them, guiding his camel when he got nervous with the reins and gripping his hand or shoulder every so often just to assure him that they were near.

"Alexandria," Daniels murmured, "we'll get a boat there."

"Now that sounds like a good plan," Rick enthused.

Evelyn frowned but did not bother with an argument, when they arrived and she got herself into suitable quarters then she would make clear her plan to undo the damage they had caused.

"So what are we left with now anyway?" Jess queried brightly. Her fever had broken with the dawn and she was noticeably improved, though still pale and tired looking. "We had locusts and frogs, anything else?" She had picked up on the none too subtle glances of pity Henderson and Jonathan sneaked her and the way Daniels seemed to be going easier on her and that Evelyn was even nicer than usual but she could not figure out why, having no idea that her family's dark history had been discussed last night.

"No but I haven't seen any livestock out here," Jonathan retorted, "maybe we missed that."

"Or not," Rick replied dryly as they finally reached the shadows of the fort and spied a few pens spoiled with the carcasses of pigs and cattle.

Dr. Chamberlain frowned and paled before grumbling, "stupid woman should have never read from the book, cursed us all with her ignorance."

"The stupid woman has perfectly good hearing you know," Evelyn chided him from behind.

"Did you just refer to yourself as stupid?" Rick queried with a mocking smile.

"At least we know what to expect from our guy," Jonathan mused as he glanced over at Jess, "what about from your guy?"

"Really? My guy?" she queried sardonically as she rolled her eyes at him. "You mean Set?"

"Well yes, assuming you have awoken his wrath," Jonathan replied with a small grin.

"And who's your guy exactly?" Jess demanded with a questioning stare as she pulled her camel to a halt and dismounted.

"He Who Shall Not Be Named," Jonathan answered dramatically.

"Oh good, so you woke up someone you don't even know," Jess replied mockingly.

"Yes well you annoyed a chaos god," Jonathan retorted childishly as he dismounted too, "much worse than an unknown mummy."

Jess shrugged. "We'll see whose guy is worse in the long run."

"Really, you two are competing over this?" Rick remarked with a disbelieving shake of his head as he stepped up to the pair. "Because it doesn't matter if we all die so long as one monster is clearly worse than the other. By the way, I'm still not willing to believe in Egyptian gods here but if they are real I think they trump mummies Jonathan."

They approached the fort as a small group, letting Rick do the talking when it came to explaining their presence to the guards and getting entry. The fort gave them hope; it looked impenetrable, protected by tall, sandy walls with soldiers in pith helmets standing guard on top and at the only entrance. The entrance itself was a work of beauty, a small arched hollow, which could be sealed by bars of iron with three arches rising above it, each with different carvings, and then two rectangular frames of stone. Above this opening a tattered British flag flapped lazily in the breeze, a reminder of the empire's presence.

The soldiers at the opening seemed more than happy to offer a legionnaire aid and expressed an obvious admiration for the Americans, which Jonathan was quick to grumble scorns about once they were safely behind the walls of the fort.

There was a sharp yip and Jess let out a cry of delight before running forward as a black pharaoh hound slipped out from behind a small group of people in the courtyard and came running over to her, ears perked up and its thin tail wagging happily. "Anu!" she greeted jovially.

"What the hell kind of dog is that?" Henderson queried as he looked at the hound in puzzlement with mild revulsion glinting in his deep blue eyes.

"Is that a dog?" Daniels remarked dubiously. "It looks like those statues of that thing, what's his name."

"Ah yes," Jonathan commented merrily as he stood beside Daniels, "the holy Whatshisname, god of Whoknows and Thingamajigs."

Daniels frowned openly at the Englishman, his frown deepening when he heard Henderson snickering. "Coming from someone whose sister raised He Who Shall Not Be Named that's a bit rich," Daniels grumbled.

"At any rate," Evelyn remarked coldly as she made a point of elbowing Daniels to squeeze in between him and Jonathan to get a better view of Jess and the dog, "you mean Anubis Mr. Daniels, and that is a Pharaoh Hound."

Jess had now crouched down and was scratching behind the dog's ears with a wide grin. "I missed you boy," she remarked fondly as she hugged the dog about the neck.

"Anyway, let's get rooms sorted," Daniels muttered before he gripped Burns' right arm loosely and turned him in the direction of the fort's open main doors. They started walking across the cracked tiles of the busy courtyard bypassing tourists, soldiers and servants alike.

"See you later," Henderson murmured as he followed after his friends.

"Rooms would be a good idea," Evelyn mused.

"Let's get them sorted then," Jonathan replied, "and then a drink I think."

Evelyn kept her gaze on Jess though, frowning when both her brother and Rick looked to her impatiently. "She's a part of the group now," Evelyn pointed out as she looked to Rick pointedly, "and the curse or curses, I'm a little confused over the details of that."

"So what are you saying?" Rick murmured as he gestured to the younger woman with one hand. "She's a thief Evelyn; she can sort out her own accommodation."

"I'm saying we should try to stick together," Evelyn retorted firmly as she rested her hands on her hips and held his stare with her own fierce hazel glower, "together we have a better chance."

"I don't know," Jonathan argued, "the Set thing seems directed to her, especially considering her history, maybe we should just leave her to it, seems unwise to draw Set's attention to us when we already have the mummy's."

"Jonathan that woman is alone without any family in the world and probably no friends, she needs us," Evelyn protested.

"Well now, she has a dog," Rick pointed out with a smirk.

Jess, sensing eyes on her, stood up and gave the trio a small smile before walking back to them. "This is Anu," she introduced, gesturing down to the black dog with both hands.

"A pleasure," Rick retorted sardonically.

"Miss Jess I must insist that we share accommodation," Evelyn addressed the younger woman firmly, "it would be the wisest decision given the circumstances."

"I appreciate the offer," Jess retorted calmly, "but-"

"No buts," Evelyn interrupted sharply, surprising them by seizing Jess' right arm as she did, "we will share quarters on the same floor at the very least if you won't share a room." She turned with Jess and stared marching off, following in the Americans' wake.

Jonathan and Rick exchanged a look before following after them along with an excited Anu.

They reached the reception in time to hear Daniels snapping obscenities at the clerk. "Stop gawking at him you bloody asshole!" Daniels snarled angrily as he leaned across the marble counter.

"David calm down," Henderson chided as he thumbed through his dollars with a sigh, pushing over another one at each curse Daniels gave.

"Ish okay," Burns rasped out. He knew the dispute was over him, he had heard the clerk exclaim 'oh my God he has no eyes!' He also knew that Daniels' shouting was only causing more people to look their way and notice his deformities and he winced to hear more muttering.

"He's no eyes."

"Jesus how is he alive?"

"Is he...couldn't they cover it? It's so hideous."

"Poor chap," Jonathan sympathised as they queued up behind the unlucky trio.

"To hell with him!" Daniels ranted as he gestured out to the clerk and glowered at Henderson. "And to hell with everyone else looking, judgemental bastards!"

"You know I think we should give these people something else to look at," Jess murmured, frowning as she saw how Burns winced and tried to shrink away between his friends. 'It's hard enough without everyone drawing attention to it,' she thought as she shared some of Daniels' anger.

"Fast before Mr. Daniels gets himself escorted off the property," Evelyn remarked with a nod towards the scowling soldiers who were eyeing Daniels with a heavy disapproval.

Jonathan let out a sudden yell of shock when Jess dealt him a loud, stinging slap to his right cheek. She then held her hand up to her brow dramatically and yelled, "oh you filthy cad! I can't believe it! You slept with my sister and my cousin, together, and us on honeymoon!"

Jonathan's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped down in disbelief as he started spluttering, too surprised to form any words.

Henderson immediately glanced over his shoulder at the yelling and watched in confusion whilst Rick folded his arms and tried to subdue a smile.

Jess pressed her hand against his mouth and snapped with a glower. "Don't you dare utter a word! I shan't believe anymore of your lies and me a young widow too before I met you." She gave a drawn out sigh before dropping her hand from him and crying out, "well I shall just have to..." She paused suddenly and gave a malevolent smirk before turning to the shocked Evelyn and flinging herself upon her as she concluded, "run off with your sister!"

There were several loud gasps as several women paled and a few men leaned forward to hear the conversation better as their cheeks reddened slightly.

"Er...what?" Evelyn croaked with a nervous look as she found herself tightly embraced.

"I'm afraid I'll have to ruin that fantasy," Rick interrupted calmly, catching on to Jess' game, "since she is with me."

"I am?" Evelyn gasped as her cheeks turned red and she looked to Rick questioningly.

"Yes," he answered with a wide smirk as he held out a hand towards her. He then turned to Jess and remarked, "so you missy will just have to make up with the..."

"Cheating bastard," Jess filled in helpfully before she released Evelyn with a dramatic sigh and sniffed. "Oh very well." She turned back to Jonathan, beaming from ear to ear and said, "I suppose it's just as well you're like a wild horse in our marriage bed."

Henderson let out a choking noise at that which he quickly turned into a cough as he immediately turned back to the counter whilst Evelyn gaped in surprise as her cheeks turned scarlet.

There was a bang as one woman actually passed out from shock whilst others let out several more gasps of horror.

Poor Jonathan continued gawking like a fish as he turned a deep shade of purple.

The clerk, anxious to get rid of this scene of debauchery and scandal, rushed the Americans with their rooms, barely glancing at any of the three as he took their cash and offered them keys. He was even quicker in snatching Rick's coin, which was actually from Jonathan's wallet though he wasn't to realise it, frowning at the American's mocking grin before quipping, "how many rooms?"

"Oh I think three," Rick decided, "let's keep the horseplay to a minimum hmm?"

The clerk's eyes filled with disapproval at Rick's pun before he turned, snatched up three brass keys, and handed them over to Rick hastily. "Upstairs," he snapped, "same as them," he added, jerking a thumb in the direction of the retreating Americans.

* * *

Jonathan had been sent out by Evelyn to fetch clothes from their quarters and her pet cat Cleo. His protests about being vulnerable by himself had fallen on deaf ears as Evelyn had all but shoved him out leaving Evelyn and Rick to a hot debate over whether they should take flight, as Rick wanted, or face the mummy, as Evelyn was insisting. Avoiding the argument, Jess had slipped down to the bar to procure a beverage with her nimble fingers. After finding something suitable she then headed back to their chambers but upon hearing Rick and Evelyn's passionate voices yelling, she turned and headed for another door instead with Anu close behind her.

It was Henderson who opened the door, shirt open exposing his tanned torso and revealing a few faint scars at his chest. "Miss Jess," he greeted happily as he tugged off his cowboy hat and rubbed a streak of sweat from his brow before replacing the hat. "You just don't get used to the heat do you?"

Jess held up the bottle of bourbon before commenting calmly, "maybe this will help. I didn't want to drink alone and O'Connell and Evelyn are a little busy at the moment."

Henderson let out a laugh at that before stepping back from the doorway. "Whilst a woman with a bottle of bourbon is probably a dangerous thing I'm going to say come in anyway because I'm bloody thirsty."

Daniels, who was standing near the two seater Burns was sitting on, glanced up as Jess entered with Anu and eyed the bottle she carried pointedly. "And what are you looking to toast?" he queried frostily. "Your honeymoon or the impending divorce?"

Jess gave a sheepish smile at this and shrugged. "Both maybe, or it's possible," she added with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, "that I'm here to drown my sorrows because Evelyn would rather stay with O'Connell than run off with me."

Daniels looked at his shoes suddenly and said nothing whilst Henderson sniggered even as his neck coloured slightly.

Their quarters were just as large and extravagant as Evelyn's, leather couches, gold lamps, mahogany furnishings, paintings in gilded frames, a bookshelf full of expensive looking leather tomes, and the faint flair of Egyptian ornaments and decor. They were in the sitting room, which had gold walls, and a cream tiled floor with several rugs thrown over it.

Jess stepped up to the mahogany coffee table and put the bottle down in the centre of it before taking a seat on the chair beside Burns. It was a tan leather seat with several cushions and silk blankets flung over it to add comfort and beauty to it. Jess glanced over her shoulder at the dark blue silk as she felt it against her neck before she reached out a hand to Burns, brushing her fingertips against his knuckles lightly. "Hey," she greeted softly.

He turned to her inquisitively, sensing her shudder of revulsion even as she tried to hide it. "Hey," he greeted though it came out as a hoarse gargle rather than a word.

"Wanna drink and spit in the face of the world?" she quipped casually.

"Yesh," he answered swiftly. Right now nothing sounded better to the man, just one moment of forgetting his torture was better than nothing. He was numb now thanks to the balms and herbs Ardeth had provided him with but they only numbed his physical pain, alcohol was needed to numb the mental pain.

There was the sound of a match striking as Henderson lit a cigar and took a deep puff, letting out a pleasurable sigh as he did. "Let's drink then," the blonde said.

"To what?" Daniels asked sullenly as he frowned over at Jess. He wasn't willing to appreciate her attempt to lighten the mood, seeing it as an unwanted intrusion.

"Oh I know," Henderson commented suddenly as he snatched up three tumblers from a counter and headed over to the coffee table. "To the love triangle that is you, that battered hat of yours, and Jess," he joked as he poured three glasses. He nudged one to Jess, placed one in Burns' hands and then lifted the third before smirking at the scowling Daniels. "Come on David," he urged, "it's laugh or cry at this point."

Daniels sighed before heading to the counter and grabbing a glass. "Fine," he grumbled as he headed to the bottle, "but only because I need a drink. I ain't toasting to that though," he added stubbornly.

It was just over an hour later that Jonathan returned, arms laden with cases and one unimpressed white cat. His brow was slick with sweat, his cheeks flushed, his cream shirt damp and his dark hair unkempt beneath his pith hat from his labours in the Egyptian heat. Hearing familiar, merry voices through the door near his own quarters, he was quick in hastening in to his temporary room, and dumping the cases and cat before Evelyn.

Evelyn who was still pouting, regarded her brother with mild distain as he handled her luggage and pet with distain. "Jonathan really," she scolded.

"Come on," Jonathan urged her and O'Connell quickly with a wave, "they're having a bloody party over there."

Rick and Evelyn exchanged a dubious look even as Jonathan hurried back out to the hall.

"A party?" Evelyn echoed. "Ridiculous, with all this going on, they couldn't be."

"Only one way to find out," Rick said before he hurried after Jonathan. Though he wasn't about to admit it in front of Evelyn the thought of some merry distraction might actually be welcome. His arguing with the stubborn woman had drained him and the heat wasn't helping matters.

Henderson opened the door to Jonathan's inquisitive knocking and gave the three a grin. "Well look who it is," he greeted mockingly with a dark twinkle in his cerulean gaze, "our cursed companions."

"Can't we be soldiers of fortune or happy explorers?" Jonathan queried with a nervous smile.

Henderson gave an almost forced laugh as he shook his head unhappily before standing back from the doorway. "Come in and join us in drowning out the misery."

"Oh really," Evelyn sniffed even as Rick pushed her in, "is drink really the answer? We should be planning, researching-"

"Evie I wanted to leave, you didn't," Rick reminded her faltly, "if we're being insane and staying I need a drink." He walked past her and accepted the glass Henderson swiftly procured for him.

There were now three bottles on the table as Henderson had been good enough to fetch more. Daniels was knocking shots back hastily like there was no tomorrow whilst Burns sipped through his drink, struggling to swallow without his tongue and wincing as the alcohol burned the raw wound in his throat. Jess was rosy cheeked with sparkling eyes as she greeted Jonathan and the others with a small smile.

"Gentlemen certain death is out there and getting ever closer," Evelyn reminded them crossly with a frown.

"Ain't it always," Daniels grumbled.

Jess poured a fresh glass, stood and pressed it into Evelyn's hand. "If we're going to die we're going to die," she mused with a shrug, "may as well have fun in the meantime."

Evelyn protested for another fifteen minutes before Rick and Jonathan goaded her into joining them and when she finally started to sip at her glass they, along with Henderson, hollered at her until she downed it and then they applauded, laughing when she let out a very unlady like burp.

They continued on like this for another couple of hours, purposely forcing themselves into a carefree attitude, all of them knowing it could only be temporary. Henderson brought out the cards for Jonathan and Rick whilst Daniels just cursed and gave Rick a rude gesture when asked about his hat and a certain five hundred dollars. He sat in a chair, head bowed beneath said hat, saying little and moving only to grab his glass. Jess remained with Burns who gave a faint smile when Anu nuzzled against his knee and welcomed the man's hand on his back.

"You know Miss Thornwood you were quite right, we should have fun!" Evelyn commented merrily as she twirled about the floor with a giggle.

The room suddenly fell silent then as Jess looked at Evelyn questioningly before her gaze turned suspicious as it flickered to Daniels and then Henderson.

"How do you know my name?" Jess queried coldly as she looked back to Evelyn once more.

Jonathan seemed to miss the tone in the young woman's voice as he leaned over the back of his chair with one arm to face her and blurted out, "your name is infamous, what happened to your family was bloody awful."

Jess stood up without a word and stormed to the door, ignoring Burns' feeble protests as she did.

"You fools," Rick chided softly as Jess hastened to the hall, shutting the door before Anu could follow her out of the room.

The Pharaoh Hound pawed at the door in confusion and started to whine.

"I er..." Jonathan babbled as he stood up. "I'll go after her."

"Maybe not," Evelyn said as she touched her brow with one hand, "I will um...when the room stops spinning that is."

Rick was quick to dart forward and catch Evelyn by her shoulders before she could fall backwards. She turned to him with an embarrassed smile and his eyes widened as she rewarded him with a kiss.

As Anu continued to whine Daniels stood up suddenly, pushing his chair back forcefully enough for it to screech loudly on the floor. "Damn dog," he cursed as he marched over to the door and tugged it open. "Out you go, noisy mutt!" he snapped at Anu.

The dog looked up at him in terror, its ears flattening down against its head as it whined again.

"Out!" Daniels snapped as he raised his foot threateningly. He had no intentions of kicking the animal, just spooking it and it had the desired effect, the dog let out a snarl before hurrying into the hall.

"What did you do that for David?" Henderson demanded as he stood up and gave his friend an angry look.

"It's her bloody dog, let it find her," Daniels grumbled back.

"It's just a dog David and you frightened it, it'll run out in no direction and get lost, probably some other asshole will end up kicking it," Henderson berated him.

"Don't call me an asshole!" Daniels retorted hotly, gripping the edge of the door tightly as he did to steady his balance. "I'm not the one who brought up her name!"

Henderson muttered something his breath before saying, "ah you're right, I shouldn't have done that. Shit, I'll go after her before she finds herself trouble."

"She is trouble," Daniels mumbled.

"Davit," Burns attempted to scorn his friend though his voice came out quieter than intended.

Daniels glanced over at his friend, the rage in his eyes giving way to guilt as he let out a laboured sigh. "What is it Bernie?" he queried, trying hard not to sound harsh with his friend.

"Shesh scarehed..." He paused in frustration as salvia trickled down his chin. "Like Kashie and Bet..." He swallowed hard.

Daniels bowed his head to hide his troubled expression before retorting moodily, "she's not your sister Burns, she's a filthy thief, remember that." With those words Daniels stormed back to his chair and seized another glass off the table.

"I'll bring her back Bernie don't worry," Henderson said as he gave Daniels a glower before hastening out to the hall. Unsure as to where the girl would have gone he headed down the hall and down the stairs to the busy lobby where he found a worried Anu cowering. The blonde approached the dog cautiously, holding out a hand for it to sniff. "It's alright boy," he said gently, "I only want to help you find her."

* * *

Back upstairs the mood quickly turned sombre, Evelyn had passed out on a chair and Rick had dismissed himself to help Henderson. After twenty minutes, Daniels, seeking fresh air and some peace from Evelyn's surprisingly loud snoring, dismissed himself to the balcony outside without a word.

He closed the sliding door behind him with a grunt of impatience as it was stiff and hard to click into place. The balcony was old, the intricate, arched, white, stone wall in need of a new coat paint. Daniels leaned over it with a heavy sigh, taking in the view of Cario as day gave way to night and the city slowly came to life as lights blinked into existence. It was just as his eyes settled on the pyramids and he recalled grimly how they had once seemed so inviting and wondrous that he finally realised he wasn't out here alone. He tensed as he tried to realise what made him think that before he finally realised it was breathing and the sound of shoes scraping slightly on stone.

The Texan turned to the right to ungracefully lean over the wall to the adjoining balcony. There she was, he should have guessed it, it was the balcony to the Carnahans' quarters after all, sitting in the shadows, back against the wall, knees hunched up, arms hugging them close and a teary gaze staring out through the arch gaps at the city emptily.

"Everyone's looking for you," Daniels informed her crossly as he continued to lean over the balcony, letting out a curse when his hat tumbled off to land at the right side of her feet.

Jess' eyes flickered to the battered hat and she shook her head with a watery smile. "That damn hat," she grumbled, "anyone would think you wanted to lose it."

"Hey long," Daniels murmured, "I'll get it." He tried to clamber over the balcony, somehow convincing himself that it was an easy task but for some reason the ground seemed further away than he thought and his feet wouldn't cooperate with the rest of him.

There was a loud bang and several swears as Daniels fell over the wall and landed hard on the balcony tiles in a tangle of limbs. Jess was startled as a giggle escaped her at the sight. She rubbed at her tears hastily with one hand before inching forward to right the man, giggling again at the scowl on his face. She plucked up his hat, dusted it off and then placed it back on his head. "There you go," she murmured, "right as you'll ever be Mr. Daniels."

He met her watery gaze with his own serious yet slightly blurred indigo stare and suddenly blurted out, "I yelled at your dog. He was annoying me, dogs annoy me, so do cats, anyway, not his fault he's a dog, Henderson went after him or you, maybe both of you."

"Okay, I mean Anu didn't do anything to you," Jess retorted with a slight frown, "but he's thick skinned at least. Does this make us even then?"

"Even for what?" he demanded sharply.

"For the necklace that you're still sore about, I've already said sorry, I ain't apologising again and I didn't know it was valuable when I took it."

Daniels let out an angry sigh before fixing his legs so that they were stretched out in front of him more comfortably. "Yeah forget it, I threatened to kick your dog, he cowered, we're even and I'm probably going to a special circle in Hell for making a dog cry."

"Is that a rare show of humour Mr. Daniels?" Jess queried with a faint flicker of a smile.

He shrugged. "Maybe," he grumbled, "seems little else to do now, can't cry about this shit can we?"

"Maybe not," Jess murmured. "So, since you clearly know everything about my family can I ask who the girl was?"

Daniels frowned, tilting his hat up with one hand before he leaned forward slightly. "I don't know everything about your family," he retorted quietly, "just the exaggerations of Jonathan and the good doctor. Neither of them seem like reliable sources; don't even know where that bloody doctor went, probably cowering round here somewhere."

"I don't think you could exaggerate what happened to my family," Jess retorted quietly.

Made curious by the bleak stare in her eyes Daniels couldn't help but query, "did your father really..." He trailed off losing the courage to ask the morbid question and instead let out an inappropriate hiccup. "God this balcony seems unsteady," he muttered as he placed his palms down hard on the tiles as if to balance himself.

"Yes," Jess said coldly, "to answer your unfinished question, yes my father murdered everyone in my family. Except me," she added quietly, her voice barely more than a whisper. "It was Set you know," she added with a look of conviction, "my father and my brother found his temple and there was a ring, I didn't realise. I didn't know about these things back then or believe them, but it was cursed, it slowly drove him mad, all those treasures from the temple poisoned our house." She bowed her head suddenly and squeezed her eyes tightly as a few more tears trickled down her cheeks. "It took months, months of pain and screams and then the deaths, one after the other, no one went quickly."

"And after all that you still came out here for more ancient curses? Why in the hell?"

"I was looking for an undoing of the curse," Jess confessed, "or, failing that, a way to clear my father's name, to prove he had been driven to do what he did." She swallowed hard and turned her head back up to face Daniels. "Anyway, go back to your friends Mr. Daniels; don't let my history ruin the evening."

"Jackal I think breaking a thousand year old chest and damning ourselves with a forgotten curse has ruined the evening," he retorted sardonically. "And you should come back with me."

"Why?"

"So Henderson and Burns stop being sore at me for yelling at your dog. Look I'll tell you her name if you come back."

Jess looked surprised at this and nodded.

"Alright." Daniels tried and failed to stand, slumping back to the ground with a curse. "Shit this ain't easy with one good arm," he grumbled.

Jess smiled as she pushed herself to her feet and held out a hand to him. "Let me help," she offered.

Daniels looked up at her with scorn before gripping the wall with his good hand and pulling himself up unaided. "Let's go," he said as he turned and clumsily mounted the wall once more.

Jess folded after him, grabbing his hand suddenly when he reached for the balcony door.

Daniels flinched and turned back to the woman inquisitively.

"What's her name?" Jess demanded.

"Bethany," he admitted quietly. "She was my fiancée once."

Jess released his hand and queried softly, "did she die?"

"Yep," he answered bluntly, "raped and murdered at our ranch by a bunch of soulless thieves while I was out trading."

"I...I'm sorry," Jess said sincerely.

"Yeah," Daniels grumbled as he tugged open the door, "me too, ten times over but it don't bring them back. There is no bringing them back."

"I don't believe that," Jess quietly, her words missed by the American as he led the way back into the room just as a dejected Henderson, Rick, and Anu returned.

* * *

 _As always thanks for your favs and alerts and please read and review, I really do appreciate it!_


	10. Chapter 10- Temporary Fortitude

It was the late afternoon and the group of unfortunate adventurers after waking to their hangovers and becoming reminded of their impending fate had finally separated to sort out their affairs. Evelyn and Jess had woken up in the Americans' quarters, curled up on the couch beneath two blankets whilst Jonathan had found himself seated at a round table, his top half sprawled out across it and several cards stuck to the right side of his face with a combination of salvia and spilt whiskey.

After Henderson had joked about Evelyn's snoring and Rick had mocked Daniels for trying and failing to bribe Anu with biscuits that had been left with the tea Jonathan had insisted on getting in the early hours of the morning, they had finally left the Americans' quarters.

Now it was just the trio and as the day had rolled on they had become more anxious and sombre with each passing hour. All of them could feel the wrongness in the air, though none of them could pinpoint why or what it was exactly they knew it was there.

"It's just the after effects of bad dreams brought on by whiskey that's all," Henderson grumbled as he fanned himself with his cowboy hat. It had been an unpleasant humid day and he had spent most of it sweaty and hot headed.

The three had spent the morning washing and dressing before discussing their plans. Burns had been incapable of course, still struggling just to find his way around their quarters, banging into the furniture as he did. Daniels had gone to help him in the bathroom but his arm had caused him pain and when Burns had started to sob from the humiliation the dark haired male had lost it. Anger had rushed through him and he had stormed from the bathroom, almost colliding with Henderson as he did.

The blonde had scolded his friend for just abandoning their companion, blind and confused, before hastening to finish the job. Henderson had managed to help Burns with his basic needs, before guiding him to shave. When Burns had rasped something that sounded like 'end it' as Henderson had raised the razor to his chin, the blonde had paled and for a moment frozen up. He had then dismissed the words as his own imagination and Burns had not repeated them, instead falling silent for the duration of the shave.

"What do you mean dreams?" Daniels scoffed as he eyed Henderson suspiciously.

The blonde gave an uneasy shrug. "I don't know Daniels seemed the place was more crowded than usual or something, thought Johnny was doing some sleep walking maybe, or O'Connell was prowling about on guard duty, I don't know," he rambled uncomfortably.

"Wait, what?" Daniels gave his friend a stern, probing indigo stare. "Did you see something last night?" he demanded.

"It was just a dream," Henderson insisted, "I mean all that stuff about Miss Jess, it was...well it was screwed up Daniels, and all this stuff going on right now, shit haven't you had one nightmare since we left that Godforsaken place?"

Burns let out a low groan at that prompting both men to look at him with a guilty sorrow. He was back on the couch, the only place he seemed to feel even vaguely comfortable, taking reluctant sips of the herbs Ardeth had given him, crushed into tea by Daniels. Daniels had scoffed that it was a 'devil's brew' but he had made it up anyway, muttering that it was probably opium and promising 'something better' when they got home.

"What exactly did you dream?" Daniels continued to pry.

"Shit David I don't know, people, messed up people in the shadows, just standing there watching and waiting. What do you care?" Henderson was trembling now and his fear was starting to show in the whites of his eyes.

"I don't," Daniels grumbled darkly as he stared at the floor, "I saw the same thing is all."

Henderson's blue eyes widened at that before he glanced sharply to the door as if considering bolting for it. "Well that ain't right," he grumbled before he reached into his pocket and plucked out his tobacco case. Damn it he really needed to soothe his nerves right now, the effects of last night's alcohol were long forgotten as was that brief moment of happiness they had managed to experience. Henderson didn't know how Jess had worked that magic just that she somehow had. After Daniels had brought her in from the balcony, something O'Connell had been very quick to joke about, she had made an effort to be a bit brighter and cheerier despite their dark situation. What had really touched Henderson was how she had focused all that light and energy on Burns, joking with him, encouraging her dog to nuzzle at him and paw at him for affection and somehow just making things seem like they weren't so final for the poor man.

Daniels had hated the young woman just a little for it, grumbling snidely to Henderson that she was given Burns' false hope, mocking him even and acting like he wasn't wounded. Henderson had grumbled back that she was just being nice and that at least she could see past Burns' injuries when the rest of them couldn't. It was hard to tell what Burns had felt about it all, at the time he had seemed not happy, no, Henderson doubted his friend would ever be happy again, but there had been something, a small spark Henderson hadn't seen on him since they had first laid eyes on the terrible but mesmerising Hamunaptra. This morning though, the man had seemed more broken than ever and the blonde didn't think he would ever forget that half-imagined, whispered plea for his friend to end it for him.

"I'm sorry," Henderson said woefully, addressing both his friends at once as his vibrant cerulean stare flickered between them, "this is all my fault. It was my idea to come out here and my idea to go after Hamunaptra."

"Hea..ree," Burns attempted to rasp out his friend's name and failed.

"It's not your fault," Daniels spoke up coolly, "we came didn't we? Not like you forced us."

"We shouldn't have opened that damn chest!" Henderson cursed. He tugged out his falcon headed canopic jar and glared down at it. Even now after all they had suffered he couldn't bring himself to part with it, hell now it was more valuable than ever, the only treasure he had to show for all his woes. "All that for this, it hardly makes sense," he mumbled between mouthfuls of tobacco.

"It was that bloody woman who read the book," Daniels complained, "he shoulda took her eyes!"

"David!" Henderson snapped with an angry look at his friend as Burns let out a moan.

"Sorry Bernie," Daniels was quick to say, "I didn't mean it, wouldn't wish that on her I just meant it's hardly fair." He moved to his friend and took a seat beside him, placing one hand on his left shoulder.

"We'll get the boat tomorrow to Alexandria, least the tickets are sorted for that," Henderson remarked confidently. Yes, that was a plan, a solid plan and it gave him a sense of control. "Just a pity there wasn't a boat today. Gives us time to say goodbye I suppose," he added dryly.

"Goodbye to whom?" Daniels grumbled. "Half the party we went with are dead, that rat Beni is either dead or close to it, the doctor's deserted us, obviously rates his chances better alone, the Carnahan woman thinks she can just stick around to fight this thing and you know her brother and O'Connell are going to follow along."

"Jesh?" Burns croaked out weakly.

Daniels gave his friend a serious stare though only Henderson could notice it. "Well she's got her own curse," he muttered.

"I asked her to come with us," Henderson admitted, surprising both his friends, "she refused of course because she's stubborn but I bought her a ticket anyway."

"You did what?" Daniels exclaimed with a look of annoyed disbelief as he stood up from the chair to face his friend.

Henderson rested his hands on his hips before calmly spitting out the tobacco into a flower pot. "Come on David I know you've got a soul in there somewhere, she's got nothing and no one out here."

"And how is that our problem? I didn't know you were cute on thieves Henry," Daniels retorted snidely.

"I'm not; I just feel if we leave her she's probably a dead girl. Sure she might have the sense to stick with O'Connell and the others but then again she might not and it's not like she's actually with them. Besides, you care about her too, you can't fool me, come on you brought her in from the balcony and you let her wear your hat."

"Don't we have enough problems?" Daniels muttered. He sighed hearing Burns giving a groan of protest. "Alright, you're right, she'll get herself killed if she stays here, whether by a mummy or a chaos god or some other mad ancient shit who knows." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly and his frown deepened.

"Dave..." Burns tried to speak again.

Daniels turned back to his friend, frowning slightly at the drool that leaked out of his friend's mouth. "Yeah Bernie?" he queried, trying to sound calm and failing.

Burns heard the mixture of revulsion and woe in his friend's voice. Ever since his eyes had been torn from him in one hellish moment his other senses had started, gradually, to improve. He should have considered it a silver lining in his anguish but he just considered it another layer to the curse as it meant he could hear the tone in his friends' voices, the faint hint of fear in Henderson's when he tried to be brave and confident, and the disgust in Daniels' when he meant to be kind. Burns understood it, he had been the level headed one of the trio until his tragedy, the voice of reason, the one to counterpart Daniels' temper and boost Henderson's confidence as he made a show of support even when the blonde's plans didn't always seem safe, or sane for that matter. Now he was too lost in his own despair to bother offering Henderson any voice of support or Daniels calming words. He was trapped in an eternal darkness, it wasn't even like being in a room with the candles out and the shutters drawn, even then there were shapes, hints of grey and deep blues, a suggestion of light despite the lack of it. This was different, there was no light for him, not anymore, it was just a never ending torment of the absence of light, it wasn't black or blue or grey, there were no shadows or shapes, there was nothing, just an endless abyss to mock him day and night.

"Oh Bernie don't," Daniels protested suddenly when his friend started to sob again. He pulled Burns against him with one arm and looked over his friend's shoulder to give Henderson a dark look.

"We'll get to Alexandria and get some proper help there," the blonde said confidently, ignorant to how Burns detected the waver in his voice, "real help I mean, there will be English doctors there, proper doctors, no desert herbs crap, and then we'll get you home. It'll be okay when we're home."

"Yeah," Daniels murmured, not even attempting to sound optimistic about it.

A few minutes seemed to drag by and for a moment both Daniels and Henderson seems helpless as they allowed Burns' hoarse sobs to fill the silence. After a while Henderson fumbled with another pinch of tobacco before deciding that they weren't being fair to Burns, letting him carry on as he was, probably feeling humiliated before his friends. The blonde moved to the balcony doors and drew back the curtains, the sun was starting to set now and its light wasn't so hot or bright, in fact it was pleasant, at least it would be if one had time to appreciate it.

Henderson glanced back at Burns as he released the curtains, the pale golden beams just about reached him, he hoped that even if Burns couldn't see them he could at least feel them and take some comfort in the knowledge that there was still light in the world. "How about I get us a drink?" he offered.

Burns tensed at the thought, the alcohol had burned too much last night and he had not been able to get as festive as everyone else with the bourbon. He shook his head in protest, pausing to dab at the drool that spilled from his mouth.

"I'd like a drink," Daniels grumbled as he stood up from the couch.

"Big surprise," Henderson murmured as he looked at his friend pointedly. "What do you want? I'll bring it up."

Daniels tensed slightly, obviously eager to escape the stuffy room but then he seemed to realise their predicament as he sagged slightly in defeat. "I don't know, something strong," he muttered. "Damn it's hot in here, better make it a shot, couldn't stand sipping over something in this heat."

"You go," Burns piped up quietly.

Henderson and Daniels both looked to him then and the blonde suggested, "why don't we all go?"

"No!" It came out as a loud gargle but Daniels and Henderson got the just of it. All Burns could think of then was the jeering he had endured upon entering this fort, the looks of horror he had felt upon him, the curses and the wondering, worse was the questioning over whether he had somehow brought it upon himself. 'I did,' he thought mournfully.

"Well I'll stay then," Daniels insisted.

"No," Burns protested again, quieter this time. He was tired of his friends and the falsehood in their voices, of hearing the doubt and fear they tried to conceal and worse, the pity. He knew they did not believe he could ever be cured of this and he knew that in their darker moments they wished the mummy had been quicker and more final with him and that they hated themselves for such thoughts. He was a reminder to them, especially to Daniels, who was most troubled as he saw Burns as yet another person he had failed to save, only unlike Bethany, Burns was taking longer to fade out of Daniels' life, taunting him every day with his suffering. "Pleash," he begged, "both...go."

"Well okay," Henderson gave in reluctantly as he nodded to Daniels, "but if you need anything, call out, get a servant in here, they're always scuttling about the corridors, it's their job."

Burns nodded weakly in response. He heard their footsteps shuffling away, heard Henry reach for the door, knowing the blonde had to be out first, he was terrified and he didn't like being in small groups anymore, he needed a crowd to reassure himself of safety these days. David's footsteps were slow and Burns could feel his backward glance even though he couldn't see it. "Don't...don't take...long," he said weakly.

"We won't," Daniels promised before he shut the door.

The men bumped into a dusty and weary looking Jess as they made their way to the stairs. She greeted them with a nod and a faint smile whilst Anu, ever present at her side, gave Daniels a wary look before wagging his tail at Henderson.

"Miss Jess fancy a drink?" Henderson quipped amicably, considering the woman might be more persuasive to the boat ride over drinks.

"Seriously?" she retorted as she wrinkled her nose slightly. "I honestly don't think I could even look at another drink for at least a couple of months."

Daniels gave a small smile at that. "What's wrong, the novelty of drinking to certain death and doom lost its charm?" he queried cynically.

"Not at all," she retorted, her smile widening as she did, "but the novelty of wearing the scents of the desert has. I'm going to get a bath," she explained.

"I was wondering what that smell was," Daniels replied mockingly.

"I assumed it was Jonathan," Henderson teased, laughing at the scowl Jess gave them. "Well enjoy Miss Jess."

"I will, enjoy the drink gentlemen; clearly you don't care much for the health of your stomachs and heads. Ah well I suppose when one is faced when the plagues of Egypt other things lose priority."

She continued on her way to the Carnahan's room leaving the pair to continue on to the bar.

* * *

"So what's the plan? Is there a plan?" Jonathan queried with an anxious smile as he followed Rick into the bar. It was a beautiful room of detailed columns with tiles of black circles in cream circles running along the bottom of them and the walls, whilst the top half had intricate carvings of leaves, flowers and symbols neither men recognised. Gossamer black curtains with gold diamonds patterning them hung between the pillars, some down and some bound back, expensive tan and maroon rugs hid most of the jade and cream tiles from view and everywhere they turned there seemed to be a decoration, statue or vase of wealth and beauty. Jonathan's eyes roved over clay flower pots with turquoise and gold enamelling, camels made of ebony, gold chandeliers and colourful lanterns resting on the glass tops of the tables. It wasn't a bad place to be in hiding.

"Well your sister naturally wants to stay and fight the immortal monster who can't be slain by mortal weapons," Rick answered sardonically as his eyes fell on a stout looking man wearing the uniform of a British fighter pilot.

Jonathan let out a chuckle at that. "Yes that's Evie, always with the sense of humour."

The stout man had a greying moustache that was curled up at the edges, a face red from both drink and heat, and a cheerfully oblivious demeanour. He was in the company of a plump but beautiful Egyptian woman, her face partially hidden behind a cloth mask of navy blue, and clutching at a dangerously overfilled goblet in his right hand.

"My even the goblets in here look pricey," Jonathan marvelled as he eyed the semi-precious stones that were dotted round the goblet.

"Jonathan no," Rick retorted with a stern gaze just as the pilot collided with a two tiered fountain of smooth, cream porcelain that acted as a centrepiece for the room.

"Some bloody idiot's spilled his drink," the man ranted crossly at the fountain in a thick, English accent before he sidestepped it and almost collided with Rick.

"Hi Winston," Rick greeted calmly as he gave the man a smile.

The man let out a burp before blinking his beady eyes at Rick. "Good grief, O'Connell is that you?"

Rick nodded.

"Well you've looked better," the pilot joked with a laugh.

"Yeah well haven't we all," Rick retorted as he eyed the wine stains on the man's mustard shirt pointedly. "Winston this is-"

"Jonathan!" Winston exclaimed, cutting the man off.

Jonathan gave him a faint smile as he shrank back from an unwanted embrace. "Yes, we've met," he confessed.

"Yes," Winston grumbled, "it was funny; I remember a lot of drink but not much else except I woke up without my money and pocket watch." He shrugged. "Oh well."

Rick gave Jonathan a suspicious look at that whilst the Englishman just looked at him innocently. "Haven't a clue what happened," Jonathan said calmly.

"You know laddies," Winston lamented, "ever since the end of the Great War, there hasn't been a single challenge worthy of a man like me."

"We all got our little problems today Winston," Rick grumbled as he finally reached the bar and took a seat on one of the square, black padded stools.

"I just wish I would've chucked it with the other laddies, gone down in a flame of glory, instead of sitting around here, rotting from boredom and booze!" Winston cried out with a dramatic wave of his hand. He leaned so far back he ended stumbling into another veiled woman. Hearing her giggle he immediately turned to face her and started telling her of his woes.

"Boredom and booze, how awful," Jonathan commented sarcastically with an envious look as he took a seat beside Rick. "Say O'Connell what would you prefer, boredom and booze or a vengeful mummy?"

Rick frowned at Jonathan before turning to face the barman. "Well Jonathan since I don't have to make that choice it doesn't really matter now, does it?"

Jonathan shrugged. "You never know, we could get lucky and die in an unfortunate accident before the mummy gets us, maybe with some beautiful women and gold, yes, wouldn't that be nice?"

Rick gave his companion an odd look as he resisted the urge to retort.

"Even the bar is gold," Jonathan murmured as he ran a finger along the bar's painted gold surface and immediately regretted it as he instantly touched something sticky.

"Tell me," Rick began curiously, "has your sister always been-"

"Oh yes always," Jonathan interrupted with a nod, somehow knowing what Rick was about to ask.

Rick turned slightly sensing a familiar pair arriving. After having spent so long with the Americans and under such serious circumstances he had quickly started to learn their mannerisms and quirks. He had learned from battle that it was always good to learn as much as you could about your allies, firstly so that you did not mistake them for enemies during the night but also so that you could bounce off and balance out each other's strengths. Daniels he knew from the heaviness to his step and the low, steady banging of his limp arm off his chest, and Henderson he detected thanks to that constant chewing of tobacco and the faint odour of smoke and horses that clung to him no matter how he bathed, not that there had been much bathing out in the desert.

"Well we're all packed up," Henderson informed them as he stood beside Jonathan who had just started pouring a bottle of bourbon into shot glasses, "but the damn boat doesn't leave till morning."

"Tail set firmly between your legs I see," Rick responded calmly as he accepted the glass Jonathan had poured for him.

Henderson rested his bare arm on the bar and leaned across it past Jonathan to glower at Rick. "You can talk. You don't have some sacred corpse after ya," he retorted moodily as Daniels stood beside Rick and waved to the barman for a glass.

Daniels, Jonathan and Rick all downed a shot whilst Henderson continued to frown at Rick waiting for his comeback.

Deciding it was best to move on from the petty exchange, Rick instead glanced at Daniels out of the corner of his eye as Jonathan started pouring drinks again. "So how's your friend?" Rick queried politely.

For a moment Daniels just looked depressed as he stared forward at nothing before he bowed his head slightly and scowled as his dark eyebrows furrowed together. Rage always came quicker than grief these days for Daniels. "He had his eyes and his tongue ripped out," he retorted savagely. "How would you be?"

Henderson glanced away at Daniels' words before turning to face his friend as Daniels suddenly turned away from the bar in disgust, shot glass still in hand. Rick remained still, turned slightly in Daniels' direction as he clutched at his own glass with both hands as a worried expression filled his features, a brief terror seeping into his eyes as he thought about Daniels' blunt description.

Henderson let out a sigh as he joined Jonathan in partaking another shot before slamming his glass down for yet another. Rick snapped out of his trance as Jonathan nudged him and he held his glass out, hoping to shake off the horror of Daniels' words with it.

"Well good luck boys," Henderson remarked with forced mirth as he held his glass out to them.

They clinked their glasses together and swallowed only to turn and spit the contents up just as quick. Everyone else in the bar started to do the same as if it was some sort of bizarre ritual. "Sweet Jesus," Henderson rasped as he tensed in disgust, "that tasted just like-"

"Blood," Rick finished for him as he stood and stared at the fountain in horror. The two tiers were now red as it bubbled and flowed with a seemingly endless quantity of crimson liquid.

* * *

Daniels was storming up the corridor, deciding he would rather keep company with his wounded friend than endure O'Connell's idiotic questions when he heard the scream. He paused and looked to the door to the Carnahans' room dumbly when the scream came again, only this time it was more like a wild shriek.

Unsure of whether to expect a mummy or a wraith or some other minion of Set or form of a plague, Daniels cursed his own stupidity before tugging out his Colt and kicking the door hard. The old lock gave way with the third kick and he hastened into the room, following the noise through an undisturbed living room and down a small corridor to another closed door, outside which Anu was frantically pawing at and barking anxiously. The dog moved to one side as Daniels arrived. This door gave way with one kick; it wasn't even stiff, swinging inwards with ease.

The Texan froze, unsure what he was looking at for a moment, he raised his gun threateningly, hand twitching at the trigger as he was greeted by a shrieking figure drenched in blood rising from the bathtub like a creature from hell. Only when its eyes snapped open did he realise it was not some bloody horror but in fact a familiar face.

"Jesus," he choked out as her hands slammed down on the edge of the bathtub and she wailed before clutching at her face, trying to rub the blood from it and only rubbing more into it.

"It's blood! It turned to blood!" she screamed.

At first Daniels thought the woman had suffered some horrific injury and he tried to imagine what and how, and what in the hell he should about it but then her words started to sink in, she wasn't the source of the blood, something else was. He holstered his weapon and turned for a towel before snatching one off a wooden rail, thick, heavy and large enough for two people; it was of the finest Egyptian cotton, soft, white and ready for ruination.

Daniels bundled the towel around the understandably confused and scared woman before attempting to pull her from the tub. She came out clumsily, smearing him with blood as she did before he let her weight carry them down to rest against the tub. He sat there with his back against the tub, stunned as the odour of fresh blood filled his nostrils and Jess sobbed against him. Anu sat opposite them, ears low as a whine escaped him.

"It just changed," she choked out, "it's blood, oh God I'm soaked in blood, whose blood is it? Whose blood?"

Daniels glanced down at her and seized a handful of the towel with his free hand and rubbed it along her face. "There now, comes off easy," he attempted to assure her.

"It doesn't," she muttered, "my brothers' stayed on my hands for weeks. I tried so hard to save Corbin but he just kept spitting it up and then...then he just left me. They all left me but they had to come back! You see that's the problem, they left and came back and now they won't go, they're not at peace, they can't rest and they won't go!"

Daniels did not know what to say to that, instead he just sighed and continued to rub the towel about the distressed woman and murmured, "you'll come on the boat with us, then you won't be alone in this mess. Better we stick together, right?"

"You don't want that," she murmured tiredly as she broke from him and attempted to dry herself off with the towel. The pair stood awkwardly, Daniels frowning slightly at the bloodstains on his grey shirt. "Don't give me that look," Jess addressed him with a weak smile, "I'm a little worse off than you. I mean you owe me now."

"How so?" he demanded.

"I only got to see you pee and it was dark, it was barely a glimpse, but you got the whole show."

"Really?" he queried with an incredulous look before he realised this was her odd way of distancing herself from the horror. He was starting to notice now how she and Jonathan were both good at bringing humour into inappropriate situations. 'Maybe she wasn't mocking Burns after all,' he thought to himself, 'maybe she really doesn't know any other way to deal with crazy depressing shit like this.'

"You're covered in blood," he reminded her, "it doesn't count."

"Still naked," she retorted chirpily as she ran part of the towel through her drenched hair.

Daniels reached out a finger and pressed it against the tip of her nose lightly. "You missed a spot," he said dryly with a taunting stare.

She froze up slightly then, her golden-brown gaze meeting his serious indigo stare before she murmured softly, "thanks for coming."

"Well you were screaming loud enough to wake the dead. Ah shit," he cursed his own bad choice of words as Jess burst into a peal of laughter.

"Subtle Mr. Daniels."

They both jumped at the sudden flash through the shutters at the window and the loud rumble that followed. Jess turned to the window with surprise but it was too high up and too small to really see anything out of it.

"A storm?" Daniels wondered in surprise as there was another flash.

"A nasty one," Jess murmured as she hastened over to her clothes and dropped the now carmine towel as she did.

Daniels' eyes widened as he unintentionally glimpsed her way before he let out another curse and prominently turned away. Anu let out a low growl and Daniels grumbled, "I didn't look on purpose mutt."

"He knows you're lying," Jess joked as she tugged on a cream shirt and brown trousers, frowning as they immediately became stained before she bound her still damp hair up in a hasty plait. She jumped again when there was a loud bang outside and the ground seemed to tremble slightly.

"What in the hell?!" Daniels exclaimed before the pair rushed to the living room to peer through the window there. Outside the sky had turned black as lightning and fireballs came from it in a fury.

"Oh no," Jess gasped as she paled, "this...it's the plagues. Water into blood, and a thunderstorm of hail and fire, Daniels he's here!"

"Burns!" Daniels snapped before he hastened to the door just as another bloodcurdling scream filled the hallway.


	11. Chapter 11- Turning Point

Bernard Burns wasn't sure what to think when he heard the door knocking and Beni's voice call out. He hadn't even thought once about their one time guide since they had lost him in Hamunaptra, having much more pressing issues to consider. Now he had to wonder where the man had been and how he had managed to get himself safely back to Cairo. He supposed the Hungarian did seem to be the kind of lowlife with a knack for surviving against the odds; he was after all one of only two survivors from the legion's misfortunate adventure to Hamunaptra.

The American tensed slightly upon hearing the door handle twist and finally click open, he had been certain Daniels had locked it but of course Beni was probably the type to know how to deal with flimsy locks. Nervous, he became very conscious as to how vulnerable he was now; once he had considered his poor sight a weakness, now he wanted to cry at the irony of that, better a tainted sight than none at all. How could it be that in a handful of days he had gone from a brave treasure hunter to a pathetic shell of a man vulnerable even to the likes of this weasel?

"Can I help you?" He tried to sound bold as he turned his head searchingly but his words came out as a barely audible mouthful of drool stricken slurs. He wore a clean linen blindfold, Daniels had applied it, murmuring something about protecting him from infection but Burns knew it was simply because he and Henderson found it hard to stomach the sight of their friend's deformities. He wondered now if he was better or worse for it before Beni, it was an obvious sign of his weakness after all but at least with the blindfold the Hungarian couldn't know how permanent the man's blindness was.

"My dear Mr. Burns," Beni chirped up warmly, "I apologise for this disturbance but it could not wait. You see," he continued as excitement grew in his voice, "I do not come alone."

Burns had already realised that upon hearing a soft set of footsteps following Beni's and something akin to robes rustling faintly in the dead air. He didn't know what to say to this, the obvious questions formed in his mind, 'who' and 'why' but he realised morbidly that he didn't really care. Day and night since leaving that cursed city of the dead he had suffered nothing but pain and fear, an endless darkness, and exhaustion thanks to a sleep broken up with agony and nightmares, all he wanted was an end to it.

"I learned of your misfortune," Beni continued brightly as he came to stand at Burns' left side, putting the American in his shadow, "such a tragedy. Well my friend here learned of it too and he wants to help."

"Help?" Burns croaked it out sardonically wondering if Beni and his companion had only learned a skewed version of Burns' suffering, they couldn't possibly know the depth of it or they would not be here now. 'Who could help this?' he thought bitterly. Jess had made a few implications about there being hope for the man yet but he had dismissed that as niceties born of a young woman's pity and misguided guilt. Just as he sensed the disgust in Daniels' voice and the fear in Henderson's so he detected the guilt in Jess', and despite his attempts to assure her that this was not her fault he couldn't sway her. If it was anyone's fault it was his own, alright so the Carnahan woman had her share of responsibility thanks to reading from that wretched book but Burns bore her no ill will either, he, Daniels and Henderson had heard the curse upon the chest and dismissed it with barely a thought.

"Yes good sir," Beni said, his devious smirk unseen by the unfortunate man, "my friend, you see, is a prince, Prince Imhotep to be precise, and he has hopes of offering some wealth to aid with your plight, coin for your treasure from Hamunaptra." His beady eyes slid over to the tall, shadowy figure who moved to take a seat opposite Burns, teal eyes glinting from behind a cold, emotionless mask of gold. Beni resisted the urge to shudder at the form, surprised that anyone could believe it to be human, even with the robes and mask to conceal the horrors underneath there was still something off about the figure, something unnatural and frightening.

"Coin?" Burns croaked, the first sliver of hope in a long time creeping into his voice as he turned his head in every direction attempting to seek out the prince.

Beni nodded pointlessly as he clasped his palms together. "Indeed, your treasure is only a reminder of your bad experiences, no? You would be relieved to be rid of it my friend. I'm sure Prince Imhotep," he paused, seeing how the man dumbly searched for the 'prince', "he sits opposite you now," he added hastily feeling just a prickle of pity for the man, "would pay handsomely for such a treasure."

Burns, finally realising he had let his manners slide in his confusion and sorrow, held out a hand across the table and said with a faint smile, "pleashed to meet...ou..."

"Prince Imhotep does not like to be touched," Beni said hastily, "a silly Eastern superstition." His grin widened at this as he thought, 'ignorant American is liable to believe all foreigners are silly with ridiculous beliefs. Still, a shame it's this one, he's the least hateful of the three and quite pathetic as it is. It would have been a joy to see that asshole Daniels with his eyes plucked out, oh well, they're all insufferable.'

"My apologshies," Burns babbled awkwardly as he pulled his hand back. "Tea?" He gestured to the silver teapot and porcelain cups on the table before them. He fumbled across the table for a moment before finding the handle of his own cup and lifting it up. The canopic jar with the human head was sitting just beside it, Burns had come to despise it and yet he couldn't part with it, often obsessively running his hand along it in an attempt to find some meaning behind his suffering. It seemed so worthless now when once it had seemed so precious, an artefact of gold and jewels that would be worth a small fortune to some collector, but in comparison to his tongue and his eyes it was nothing. Now though, perhaps with this prince, he might yet get that fortune and it could pay for his care back home. That would be something; maybe he could yet salvage some life for himself if he had the coin.

Beni almost laughed when the American spilt his tea down himself as he struggled to swallow it with his absent tongue. "Oh dear," he remarked sarcastically, his brief pity gone as quickly as it had appeared. He remembered Burns buying him a drink on the boat along the Nile but he equally remembered him laughing along with that brute Henderson when Daniels had made snide remarks about Beni's questionable origins. Though Beni followed Imhotep for self-preservation and gold, there was definitely a strong part of him that had come to see the Americans punished too, he could think of no men, save O'Connell, who deserved to suffer more. There was the girl too, the rotten jackal, she was an irritation but he didn't think she was so hateful as to deserve the fate of the Yankees but that wasn't up to him, she was a thief, she had to expect some comeuppance for it, and for gold he would deliver her and the Egyptologist as easily as he planned to deliver Henderson and Daniels to Imhotep even if he had no personal grudge towards her or Dr. Chamberlain.

Imhotep plucked off the gold mask at last exposing the horror, an undead face with ill-suited teal eyes sitting amongst the rot, the only visible part of the face that wasn't decayed. Realising it was time, Beni let out a sigh before addressing the American calmly. "Mr. Burns, Prince Imhotep wishes to thank you for your hospitality, and for your eyes, and your tongue," he added snidely.

Mr. Burns let out a croak of confusion. "Wha..." The word died on his lips as the horror began to race through him.

"But so much more is needed," Beni continued, still calm, "the prince must finish the job and consummate the curse-"

"No!" Burns interrupted with a shriek as he shrank back against the couch. It was so strange, he had been longing for death as an end to his pain but now the thought of his life ending at the hands of this monster was more than he could bear. "No! Pleash!" he choked out as he shuddered.

"Which you and your friends have brought down upon yourselves," Beni concluded pointedly.

Imhotep rose from the couch, leaning over the table slightly and putting Burns in his shadow. Burns felt his bladder weaken then and his legs turn warm and damp as he let out a bloodcurdling scream. 'Not like this! Not like this!' he thought over and over again as he began to turn hysterical. He didn't even have a gun, not that it would matter much but at least with a gun he could attempt to go out like a man and not a feeble coward.

Imhotep's jaw seemed to dislocate, dropping down to reveal a wide, gaping maw. He started sucking then, pulling Burns' very life force into him as he did. Burns felt himself weaken rapidly by the second as pain flooded through every fibre of his being.

There was a loud bang as the door was kicked inwards and hit off the wall with the force. BANG! BANG! Daniels barely took in the scene before he started shooting at the mummy, both guns drawn and aimed despite the agony that surged through his left arm. The mummy turned to Daniels with a look of fury and let out a roar, he made to swing his hand but paused when Anu started barking at him frantically. Burns' teal eyes widened in the mummy's rotting skull at the sight of the Pharaoh Hound and he uttered in his ancient language, " _ward of Anubis! I have unfinished business here!_ "

Jess darted forward then, sickle out and at the ready, she jumped onto the coffee table and slashed down at the creature. The blade embedded itself into its brow, sinking through the rotted bandages and squelchy flesh. The mummy jerked back with a shriek of pain, wrenching the handle from Jess' hands as it did. " _Curse of Set! She took from me! She is mine to curse!_ " he yelled in his old, almost forgotten language as a sticky, black liquid seeped out of the wound created by the sickle.

"Stupid jackal!" Beni snapped at the girl as he stared up at her angrily.

Jess turned to the man with a glower. "Fuck you snake!" she cursed at him hatefully before bending down to pick up the teapot and hurl it at him.

The man let out a howl of pain as he was struck in the face by hot metal and hot tea sprayed all over his face and neck. He rubbed at his eyes frantically with one hand before bolting for the door. Daniels let out a curse when Beni shoved him out of the way and fled into the corridor.

It was as Beni fled down the stairs that he almost collided with O'Connell and Evelyn. "Beni you little stinkweed, where've you been?" Rick called after him as he pushed past them and kept running. Knowing if Beni was near it couldn't be good, Rick picked up the pace, practically dragging Evelyn with him as he did.

The pair entered Burns' room with Henderson and Jonathan close behind, just in time to see Jess being grabbed by her throat by the rotting hand of the mummy.

"We are in serious trouble!" Rick cried out as Daniels started shooting in vain.

Jess let out a gasp for air as she struggled against the surprisingly tight grasp before her eyes rolled up to the sickle. In one quick movement, she reached out for the handle, yanked the sickle out and sliced down at the hand. It had the desired effect, the sickle once again became embedded in ancient mummy flesh but she was released to fall hard on the table.

The mummy turned towards the men and Evelyn, shaking its hand frantically with a scowl before Burns' teal eyes locked on Evelyn. Gunfire broke out at once as Daniels, Henderson, Jonathan and Rick all started shooting at the mummy in unison.

Jess let out a groan of pain before rolling over on the table to face Burns who was cowering on the couch with a whimper. "It's alright Mr. Burns," she addressed him as she swallowed down a grunt of pain, "we're all here and in this together."

In a moment of heroics or, more likely, madness, Rick holstered his guns and rushed at the mummy, punching it hard in the face. The creature didn't even flinch at the blow; instead it grabbed Rick by his braces, lifted him into the air effortlessly and threw him back. He hit Jonathan, Daniels and Henderson hard, sending them crashing to the ground like a set of bowls pins.

The mummy turned then back to its original prey and its jaw dropped down once again. Evelyn let out a scream as Burns started to howl in pain as his life force once more began to be drawn out of him.

"No!" Jess screamed as she jumped at the fiend.

The creature roared in annoyance as the young woman slammed into it and sent it stumbling back. It grabbed her by both shoulders and turned to throw her. It caught Evelyn's frightened stare and froze for a moment before turning Burns' teal eyes down on Jess.

Anu came forward then with a fierce growl before he dared to bite down hard on the mummy's right leg.

The mummy hissed in pain before shaking the dog off and glowering at Jess once more. " _Your turn will come!_ " it promised before throwing her hard.

Jess slammed against a wall before slumping to the ground with a groan of pain as her vision flashed red and then black.

Evelyn looked at her fallen friends in horror before turning her wide stare back to the creature that was now facing Burns again. When Burns started to scream as his life was ripped from him, tearing through his skin as if it were a physical thing, Evelyn stepped forward. " _Over here_!" she cried out dramatically in the mummy's ancient language. It was to no avail, the mummy paused for only the briefest of seconds before continuing with its gruesome murder of the American, sucking the very life out of him.

Henderson fumbled to right himself anxiously, cursing and crying out as he did. "No, fuck no!" he yelled as he heard his friend's bloodcurdling wails of pain and horror.

When Burns finally fell silent, now no more than a dried up husk, the mummy turned to Evelyn before walking towards her, its uninjured, decayed hand stretched out to her. Evelyn winced at the sight of greyed, moist bandages peeling off its open palm. The mummy looked a little more humane, it shouldn't have been possible but there was flesh over the bones now, though it was thin and grey.

" _You saved me from the undead, princess, you shall be immortal. Anucksunamun._ " Though its tongue was that of old Egyptian Evelyn understood it perfectly and it made her blood run cold.

The Englishwoman stepped backwards and let out a soft gasp as her back hit the wall and she realised she had nowhere to run. The decayed face was leaning towards her now and she filled with terror, dreading what its next move would be.

Suddenly the jarring sound of an out tune piano's keys rang out, surprising everyone.

The mummy turned to face the culprit and let out a roar of horror as Evelyn's white cat Cleo looked at it and hissed. In a whirlwind of sand and air that sent the cushions and cups into the walls the mummy departed from the room, leaving the group to exchange a bewildered look before attempting to right themselves.

Henderson, up first, ran towards Burns and reached to grasp his deceased friend with a sob. He clutched at his friend's shrivelled right hand in disbelief and shook his head as he rubbed at his budding tears with his free hand. "The curse," Henderson choked out sombrely with a dejected look as he flickered a nervous gaze over to Daniels. "The curse," he mumbled again as his blue eyes filled with fear.

Daniels stood in silent shock, staring at Burns corpse stoically as if he did not quite believe it was there.

"Are you alright?" Jonathan demanded anxiously as he hurried to Jess and took in her bloodstained appearance. "God where are you injured?"

"I had a bath, that's all," she replied faintly as she tried to shrug off her dizziness. For a brief moment she had blacked out upon hitting the wall and despite hearing Burns' wails she had yet to realise the finality of the mummy's attack.

Jonathan looked puzzled for a moment before his eyes went wide and he exclaimed, "oh!"

"That must have been fun," Rick commented sarcastically as he met Evelyn's pale face and then quipped, "are you alright Evelyn?"

Evelyn's hazel eyes remained on Burns' dried up form, she had failed to save him, they had all failed to save him. "He...he said he was going to make me immortal," she whispered. What could that entail? Living as a shambling ancient mummy, not alive but not dead either? She shuddered at the thought and turned away from Burns at last.

"Lucky you," Daniels remarked sarcastically as he joined Henderson, "he wants our organs." He looked to his fallen friend and immediately regretted his words.

Jonathan continued looking to Jess with concern and quipped. "What did he say to you?"

Jess shrugged. "I don't speak the language," she retorted coolly.

"He said, your turn will come," Evelyn answered numbly.

"Good for me, it wouldn't be right if I got left out," came the sardonic retort as the woman let out a wince before pushing back against the wall to stand. It was then that she finally spied Burns.

The others were surprised by the sudden scream of anguish that erupted from Jess as she grasped at her tangled blonde hair with both hands and yanked it hard before stumbling past Jonathan as if to make for the fallen American. She halted a couple of feet from him, staring between Daniels and Henderson to their deceased friend in disbelief as her golden-brown stare filled with guilt and grief. "No," she choked out angrily as tears started to burn down her cheeks, "not another one, no, God damn it we were right here! Right here and it still bloody happened!"

Daniels' lip curled slightly in revulsion as the truth of her words sank in. Rick and Jonathan frowned as they looked to the body with pity whilst Henderson cursed and continued to babble about the curse.

* * *

It was sunset before the group finally attempted to discuss their next move. Several hours had passed during which they had spent a couple of hours trying to compose themselves, and debating and arguing over where to go and what to do, and what do about Burns. Henderson and Daniels had almost come to blows over the matter, Daniels had cursed that it was a husk lying there, not their friend and he simply wanted rid of it, the blonde had argued that their friend deserved better and demanded a burial. In the end, Rick had calmed the situation by reminding the Americans of the seriousness of their situation and remarking that there was no time for mourning as they had to deal with the mummy now before someone else died. Daniels had punched Rick at that remark, right in the nose before Jonathan had pulled him off and Evelyn had shouted at him. After some more heated words, Evelyn and Jonathan had finally promised to get assistance for Burns in the city.

It had taken an hour, a lot of coin no one really had to spare, exploiting some former contacts and making use of Winston, but in the end Jonathan had persuaded some trustworthy acquaintances to dispose of Burns' remains in a tasteful and subtle manner that would not lead to an investigation by the authorities. Evelyn had then made assurances to Henderson that her acquaintances would ensure a decent burial and a marker for the men to visit, though they all had their doubts about that. Henderson had conceded grudgingly whilst Daniels had asked bitingly if she thought they could spare two more markers in time.

After that they had settled into an uneasy and angry silence. Henderson seemed to collapse in on himself, sitting on the couch and staring blankly ahead as tears ran down his cheeks quietly. Daniels, to no one's surprise, submerged himself in glasses of whiskey.

In the end, Jess, who had spent the time sitting on the floor with her knees raised, silent while everyone else had argued, announced her plans to depart and find a place to wash and change, surmising that the water appeared relatively normal again.

"You can't go out there," Henderson protested as he looked to the woman as if she had gone mad.

She looked to him in surprise, having assumed he wasn't even paying attention anymore, folded her arms and retorted, "why not? This place isn't exactly safe."

"She has a point," Jonathan mused. The Englishman was sitting at a round table drinking a tea and regretting turning down Daniels' offer of a drink. They had moved back and forth between the Americans' quarters and the Carnahans' for three hours now, no one feeling safe enough to settle in one particular area or sure enough to depart. Jonathan was now thoroughly fed up and eager to escape the stifling quarters and heavy feeling of doom. It didn't help that there was still a stale odour of death in the hot, sticky air.

"I need to wash," Jess grumbled, "the smell of blood is sickening and red isn't really my colour."

"You can wash here," Henderson argued as he gestured with one hand towards the hall that led to the bathroom.

"I need to get clothes too," Jess pointed out.

"I can lend you some of mine," Evelyn offered quietly as she looked to the woman with worry. She was sitting on a couch beside Rick, nestled under his arm. She was exhausted and feeling a mixture of sorrow and fear. Worse was the uncertainty, for all her intelligence she really didn't what they should or could do.

"Okay you know what," Jess snapped angrily as she pushed herself off the wall she had been leaning against, "maybe I just want some time away from all the crazy. Plus I have my own curse so you know; perhaps I should take it with me?"

"Don't be like that," Henderson grumbled at her crossly, "you started out alone, you're not continuing that way."

"And who made you in charge?" Jess replied hotly.

The blonde was surprised by her tone and scowled back at her. He had always tried to be nice to her, it wasn't just that he felt sorry for her, she was a nice woman and he wanted to see her safe, and happy he supposed, it was unfair for her to have such a bad run of luck in life. He couldn't understand why she was suddenly being hostile towards him and acting like his kindness was something bad.

"It's not going to make a damn bit of difference you scarpering now," Daniels commented coldly as he gave the woman a serious stare from beneath the shadows of his hat, "Burns is dead and it wasn't Set that did it." He had guessed, correctly, that Jess felt responsible for their friend's death.

"Enough," Rick interrupted as he stood up and stepped across the floor so that he was between Jess and Henderson with a raised hand. "Jess stop being suicidal, we are all in this together and we know it, although admittedly I was against all of it from the start and did try to warn you."

"No one likes Mr. Hindsight Guy," Jess retorted dryly as she frowned at him.

"How about guy with experience of creepy, undead, cursed city?" Rick retorted sarcastically. "You know what, never mind," he added hastily as he saw the annoyance burning in the woman's eyes and felt Evelyn's own angry glower. "I'll do the whole gloating I told you so bit after our guy's back in his grave. Now, you want to go get washed and whatever, fine, you do stink, but none of us are going to be left alone anymore," he added seriously.

"I'll go with her," Daniels offered coolly before Jonathan or Evelyn could. "I'd like some time away from this stuffy shit hole too," he explained. He had been staring down at his jackal canopic jar silently wondering the same thing Burns had been just moments before his death, was it worth it?

"Well wouldn't we all," Jonathan grumbled.

"And what about our undead pal?" Henderson demanded. "Do the rest of us just sit here waiting for him to come back and pick us off? Shit he didn't even flinch at the bullets."

"No but he didn't like the cat," Rick mused.

"So let's get a group of cats then," Jonathan chirped up.

"He didn't like the dog either," Daniels murmured. He glowered at Anu when the dog growled at him angrily. "And I don't blame him," he added.

"So the guy doesn't like pets," Jonathan summarised sardonically. "Maybe we should hide in a pet shop."

"No," Evelyn remarked, "that's not it." She leaned forward slightly, energised as the scholar inside her began to piece together the clues. "Cats are the guardians of the Underworld, sacred to Egyptians, and Pharaoh Hounds are sacred to Anubis, god of the dead. Perhaps our mummy fears some sort of retribution for escaping the Underworld?" She shrugged, suddenly unsure of things again.

"Jackals," Daniels grumbled as he glared at Anu, "that's what it is; you're like a bloody jackal."

"Well I'm hungry," Rick announced, "I suggest food, rest, and then a plan.

"What plan," Henderson grumbled with a look of despair before placing a wad of tobacco between his teeth.

"On that note wish me luck," Jess piped up cheerfully, "because I'm instigating my plan to get this blood off me."

Daniels sighed and murmured, "give me a minute to reload my gun."

"You don't have to come," she retorted calmly.

Daniels gave her an annoyed stare and answered, "if I don't get out of here I'm going to go nuts. Consider yourself a necessary chore."

"How kind," she replied sarcastically.

"I'm coming too," Jonathan announced as he stood up, lifting his pith hat as he did and placing it on his head. "What?" he queried when several pairs of eyes looked his way. "I need the fresh air," he retorted calmly. "Anyway, where exactly do you plan to bathe? Do you have a home in the city?" He turned his curious blue stare on Jess.

She flustered slightly at the question and scowled. "Well no, not exactly," she grumbled.

"So you were planning the crime of breaking, entering and bathing?" Daniels queried sarcastically.

"We can go to my house," Jonathan offered. When Evelyn let out a 'ahem' sound he added hastily, "our house."

"And we'll try to come up with a plan in the meantime," Evelyn murmured, "there might be someone we can go to." She trailed off thinking of her superior in the museum, if anyone could know anything about this curse it should be him. She recalled how he had tried to burn their map of Hamunaptra, dismissing it as myth and her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Once Daniels had reloaded his guns the trio departed hastily from the fort. They emerged to a city somehow still functioning despite the earlier storm. To look it was evident that the fireballs seemed aimed around a particular spot, the courtyard of the fort was in ruination and one of its walls had crumbled. People still flustered about the fort, trying to undo the destruction and aid the wounded. It was clear though from the lack of concern from the city itself that the natives were not troubled by the turmoil of their former overlords.

The sky overhead was still dark and heavy with clouds and there were a few faint rumbles as if to remind them all that the danger was very much still out there. They allowed Jonathan to lead the way down numerous alleyways, past bazaars and stalls. Twice Daniels had to push both the Englishman on when a merchant's glittering wares caught his gaze. He smoked as they walked, puffing heavily and hastily on his cigarette as he did.

It took half an hour of traipsing over dust, dirt and sand, looking over their shoulders, and peering down alleyways apprehensively before they finally made it to the humble Carnahan quarters. "It's not much but it's home," Jonathan remarked cheerfully as he unlocked the wooden door to grant them entry.

"It's nice," Jess enthused sincerely as she stepped into it. It was a townhouse, two floors, and sandwiched between several other homes of clay and stone, modest but cosy. It was instantly inviting as it opened into a living room with quaint furniture and some ornaments and trinkets that evoked the beauty and mystery of the land they dwelled in.

Daniels eyed a few kneeling camels of ebony with scorn and made a face at the replica of a funerary mummy mask that sat on a corner table beside a black and white photograph of two beaming individuals, one clearly an Englishman with a black moustache and a handsome face very similar to Jonathan's, and the other an Egyptian beauty with Evelyn's exotic appeal and sweet, endearing stare.

"This way," Jonathan said with a look to Jess as he started to head down the left hallway, "Mr. Daniels the kitchen is just to right," he added with a glance back to the American. "If you're hungry that is."

Daniels headed to the kitchen, his mouth dry as sweat laced down his brow. He paused and frowned down at the dog that followed after him. "Suppose you want something?" he quipped dryly before he hunted through the cupboards and produced a bowl. He found also a jug of water, stale but mercifully clear, he poured it into the bowl and offered it down to Anu before hunting for something stronger for himself.

Jonathan rejoined the American and the dog, both now seated in the small living room, Daniels predictably drinking at a glass of whiskey, his dirty boots resting on the dented coffee table beside his battered fedora. He held the glass in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other, his fourth, his brow was smudged with dirt and sweat and his indigo stare looked troubled.

Jonathan rolled his eyes at the man's outstretched legs and remarked as he headed to the kitchen to fetch himself a drink, "Evie won't like you dirtying her table."

"Miss Carnahan summoned a mummy to come after my organs, I think my dirtying her table with my boots is a modest payback at best," Daniels grunted back sarcastically.

"Well when you put it like that," Jonathan remarked merrily as he returned, drink in hand. He sat opposite Daniels before tugging off his own hat and resting it on the table. He frowned again when he saw that the Pharaoh Hound was helping himself to a generous portion of cooked chicken. "Did you have to give him that?"

Daniels took a deep draw of his cigarette and shrugged. "He bit that creature, he earned it."

"I am sorry about your friend," Jonathan said sincerely.

Daniels tensed and purposely did not reply.

For a moment the pair were silent as they drank before Jonathan spoke up again. "Do you really think you will be safe from an ancient curse in Alexandria?"

"I don't know," Daniels murmured angrily.

The men tensed and looked to the hall at the sound of steps, relaxing when Jess appeared. She was now clean, her dirty fair locks dark with damp and bound in a plait that hung over her right shoulder. She was dressed in Evelyn's clothes, though she had made a few adjustments to them. She wore a cream, gossamer shirt, pale gold trousers, tan ankle boots and an open, linen jacket.

"You look lovely Miss Jess," Jonathan was quick to praise. "You know Evie has a few scarves that would do well with that outfit, I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

Jess shrugged airily at that. "A means to strangle me with hmm, I think I'd prefer to be unfashionable." She turned to face Daniels whose face was hidden beneath the brow of his fedora; he was facing the table, flicking ash onto it carelessly. "I'm sorry about Mr. Burns," she remarked sincerely.

"Isn't everyone?" Daniels grumbled back moodily without looking her way.

Jess frowned before stepping forward and taking a seat beside him. "Do you want to say something about him?"

Daniels glanced at her out of the corner of his indigo eye, more in shock than annoyance. "What?" he snapped frostily.

"Maybe another time," Jonathan murmured hastily. He stood up and queried, "drink Miss Jess?"

"Wouldn't mind another Jonathan," Daniels answered, his voice still icy.

"Yes, please," Jess retorted as she gave Daniels a look of irritation before her gaze flickered over to Jonathan. "Something strong," she added.

Jonathan nodded before hastening from the room.

"You need to say something," Jess insisted.

Daniels, just wishing Jess would shut up now, turned to face her at last, his face almost grey and his dark eyes burning with rage. "Why in the fuck would I need to say something?" he snapped.

Jess, unflinching despite his cursing, looked back at him calmly and said gently, "because you need to make it real. You need to accept that this isn't a nightmare, that it's really happened and you need to do it for him. I know it's sudden, I'm still in shock too but there's no time for a proper burial with his friends around so you need to say something now. We're the only ones suffering now, he's not, so..." She trailed off as tears started to run down her cheeks again. "Look, just say something alright! It festers when you don't and they don't rest!"

"Christ," Daniels cursed. "What the hell do you want me to say? He's dead, right in front of us, we couldn't do a damn thing about it." He shook his head angrily, flinching when Jess hand reached to his own.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, "I'm so, so sorry. He was a good man, kind and brave, a little shy too but it was endearing. I didn't think I'd lose anyone else to this place, I should've..."

"Should've what? This wasn't Set, alright?" He looked her square in the eye with a stern look. "You tried to help him, you did all you could."

"But I knew," she said quietly, "I knew how bad things could get when it comes to Egypt, I lost all my brothers, I-"

"Couldn't have known about a goddamn mummy," Daniels interrupted her, "nor would we have believed you if you had. And you didn't know because you wouldn't have taken from the chest if you had."

Jess froze, her eyes widening slightly as she was unable to hide her horror from her face. "You..."

Daniels nodded with a weary look. "You took the broken jar, the tiger or lion, whatever the hell it was, yeah I know. Frigging left it for you, didn't we?" He saw the fear fill in her eyes and felt a tiny prickle of guilt. He had known the day they had opened that chest, he had thought of it when they had abandoned the broken jar and he had known, there was no way a thief could have resisted it. He had thought of asking her about it, even demanding it off her but then all hell had broken loose of course.

"Oh dear," Jonathan remarked faintly. He had entered at Daniels' words, two glasses of whiskey in hand.

Jess turned to face the Englishman, her hand still grasping Daniels'. "I think I need that drink now," she murmured weakly. "Maybe I'll wreck my liver before he can." She bowed her head in defeat, unable to perk herself up with her humour this time. "Oh God," she choked out. "I just wanted a way to help them, to bring them back or see them finally at peace, that's all I wanted. For people to know my father wasn't a bad man. God I won't get the chance now."

"You will," Daniels murmured in a rare show of optimism, "we'll get to Alexandria and then we'll get the hell outta Egypt. No mummy is gonna board a boat for Christ's sake."

Jess glanced up at the American as Jonathan finally set the drinks on the table and sat opposite them. "Hope Mr. Daniels? How unlike you."

* * *

 _I thought about letting Burns' live or at least delaying his death but honestly for me it adds more drama and a sense of finality and I really wanted to write the scene, especially to show Daniels and Henderson's reactions. I am still doing my own thing with the story and have the idea of Jess' presence leading to a plausible butterfly effect i.e because she's around things have the potential to happen differently but I just couldn't resist still leaving Burns' fate the same, so far..._


	12. Chapter 12- Night of the Living and Dead

The streets were still, the walls tinted sapphire blue whilst the dusty ground was pale silver thanks to the moon. Complete darkness was mercifully only found in a few narrow streets and small corners, and as Jonathan stared out through the window he was almost quite convinced that those pockets of black were too small to conceal a mummy. As he looked with a slightly nervous twitch he considered that the mummy probably had a certain knack for hiding in the dark, after all the creature had spent centuries adjusting to total blackness. He pondered if perhaps the creature could squeeze itself into a tiny patch of shadow so that it could have complete surprise before coming for someone's organs.

The Englishman snapped the wooden shutter closed, banishing the window in a moment of alarm before glancing sharply over his shoulder to see if he had disturbed his companions. Only the Pharaoh Hound had stirred and was now looking at him accusingly, annoyed but not startled enough to even bother standing. Satisfied that there was no immediate danger, the dog let out a yawn and lay its head back on the stone floor.

"Well I suppose I didn't open a cursed chest or read a spell from an ancient book," Jonathan grumbled to himself as he walked away from the window, pausing at a couch to look at its occupants with a slight frown. 'It must be nice to sleep despite all this danger,' he thought sardonically before his blue gaze flickered to the empty glasses on the table and the empty bottle of whiskey between them. 'That probably helped,' he decided as he moved to take a seat opposite them. "Well I'll stay guard then," he addressed the dog quietly with a nod. His frown deepened as he was almost quite certain that the ungrateful hound rolled its amber eyes in response. The Englishman smiled then and shook his head at such a thought. 'Trick of the light,' he assured himself, 'dogs don't roll their eyes.'

He leaned back in the couch slightly and lifted his legs onto it. "Only getting comfortable," he grumbled with another glare at the dog, "but I'm still alert, impossible to sleep with a mummy out there. At least it should be, as well I'm here to guard." His gaze darted over to the pair opposite him once more.

David Daniels, a Texan, who in Jonathan's opinion had all the subtly of a drill sergeant and the manners to boot, was passed out rather than asleep, his upturned face hidden beneath his crooked, grey fedora. He lay across the sofa, hands crossed over his muscular chest, his right arm bent in an awkward shape, free from its makeshift leather sling but evidently still in discomfort. His legs were slouched up slightly to accommodate for the couch's other occupant in a manner that would probably cause him great discomfort when he awoke. Jessica Thornwood was the other occupant, a scruffy looking woman, Jonathan liked to think of her as a diamond in the rough, she looked like the thief she acted as and yet she was of, as his uptight grandmother used to say, the good blood, daughter of a lord and lady of English and Irish heritage. Even now Jonathan couldn't really place her role in this; she was caught in the Americans' curse, doomed by her own greed evidently, whilst she had been in the city of the dead seeking something to do with the chaos god Set. The Englishman understood all that, her father had found a temple to the god once and brought a terrible curse upon his family and now only Jess remained of the Thornwoods but what Jonathan couldn't gather was how that tied into Hamunaptra. She had babbled about clearing her father's name and ending the curse but he couldn't imagine how.

Jonathan wondered if she had been seeking something in the city of the dead to somehow end Set's curse and supposed she hadn't found it. But how long had she been searching? Hadn't the Thornwood's tragedy occurred eight years ago? He frowned again, how long had she been alone in the streets of Cairo? He felt his eyelids grow heavy; perhaps it would be better if he shut them, yes; focus on using just one sense to conserve energy. He would hear any would be intruder; he had always had excellent hearing.

'Bloody Americans caused all this,' Jonathan thought crossly, 'I just wanted a nice pocketful of gold and some ancient jewellery, was that so much to ask? Why did they have to take the damn thing's sacred organ jars? I doubt he would've minded the loss of a necklace quite so much, wouldn't even have to be his, I'd have settled for any priest's jewellery. And why did my sister have to read from that book? Why was that book even there? They promised a book of gold, much nicer, bet that wouldn't have cursed anyone.'

Ten minutes later and Jonathan's happy snores joined Daniels' laboured ones. Anu lifted his head at the noise before giving it a shake as he accepted the sound as unthreatening and settled back to sleep once more.

KNOCK! KNOCK! Jess' eyes snapped open at the sound, a deep, low beat on the wooden front door. For a moment she was confused about her surroundings and the origin of the noise. When it sounded again she sat up, slowly and still puzzled, her eyes flickering from Daniels to Jonathan as she pushed back her messy hair with one hand. KNOCK! KNOCK! Her golden-brown stare flickered across the dark room to the door accusingly. What time was it? Was it late? Early? Who could be out there? Someone for Jonathan?

"Jessie." The voice called softly from behind the door, light, sweet and full of warmth and promise. "Jessie my little bunny let me in."

The woman stumbled to her feet as if still caught in a dream. The voice sounded so real and that pet name brought back a flood of happy memories. There was a small voice in her head that tried to warn her that this couldn't possibly be real, that it had to be a trap but too much of her was desperate for hope now, too strong was the desire to believe that it was possible.

"Jessie, let me in darling."

Just behind the door, until she opened it anything was possible. The woman stopped before it, tired, confused and coated with goosebumps from the evening chill. She raised a shaking right hand to the brass key, still in the lock, and turned it.

"Beautiful little bunny I'm almost home."

Home? That wasn't right, was it? Her hand fumbled at the door handle and for a moment she froze as she started to consider the reality of the situation.

"Jessie."

It was definitely her voice, no poor copy, no similar mimic, it was her, Jess was certain. It was a voice that plagued her nightmares and made her dreams all the more pleasurable though her waking hours then became a torment as they took the voice from her. She pulled the handle down and opened the door.

A figure stood at the open doorway, a couple of inches taller than Jess, and thinner too with a willowy frame. It was a body lost beneath skirts of velvet and silks with a matching jacket and a shirt, all of which were old, rotted and stained with blood. The face held all the horror to it, even in the faint light of the night its wrongness was plain to see. Had it been turned away Jess might have let herself be fooled but no matter how much she wanted to she could not make the mutilated image soften in her gaze. The doe like, brown eyes, once so full of tenderness and love were gone, stabbed out years ago to leave bloody sockets in their place and that honeyed smile, that beautiful grin that was once a precious reward to a behaved daughter had been ripped apart, forced outwards to a ghoulish grin that revealed the now decayed and blood soaked insides of formerly rosy cheeks.

A click of a gun sounded in Jess' left ear as Daniels' nozzle appeared over her shoulder. The Texan's first instinct was to shoot naturally but he remembered suddenly what Chamberlain had said about Mrs. Thornwood being blinded and grinning from ear to ear. The man filled with a new horror as he didn't know what to think or do as he gazed at the ghoulish figure, which given its condition, certainly shouldn't be up and walking about. He finally snapped into action, pulling Jess back with one sharp yank before he slammed shut the door, and immediately locked it again.

KNOCK! KNOCK! The rapping came almost instantaneously. "Jessie, little bunny, let me in," the voice called with a hint of impatience to it now.

"Mother." Jess spoke the word with an obvious desperation and longing as her eyes burned with tears.

"That is not your mother," Daniels snapped at her darkly as he jerked her back from the closed door, a little more forcefully this time as he feared her unlocking it again. He turned her from the door, ready to berate her for what seemed like obvious stupidity but his anger was stilled when he saw the sorrow glistening in her eyes. The Texan realised then the simplicity of her curse, to play on a lonely girl's longing for her beloved family, he supposed there were not many who could resist such a cruel ploy.

KNOCK! KNOCK! "Let me in bunny, let me hug you close."

"You hear it then?" Jess queried hoarsely as she looked to Daniels, her eyes twinkling with a mad desperation.

He nodded sombrely and grumbled, "I hear something."

"I wondered for a time if it was just me," she murmured, "I thought it a curse, then madness for a while but then I knew it had to be real. They're restless I think."

"No," Daniels argued with an angry shake of his head. KNOCK! KNOCK! He looked to the door accusingly wondering why the thing didn't just try to intrude. "This is fucked up," he muttered. He gestured to the door with his gun and growled, "that...well I don't know what that is but I know what it ain't and it ain't your mother."

"Little bunny aren't you lonely? Don't you miss your mother's hugs?" the voice called out anxiously.

Jess looked to the door with a mixture of horror and disbelief. "If it isn't her why does it have her voice?" she queried quietly.

The pair jumped as another banging sounded, fiercer than the one at the door it came at the shutters and was loud enough to disturb Jonathan from his slumber. Anu, who had come awake at the knocking at the door, now jolted up with a defensive snarl whilst Jonathan fell off the couch with an inelegant bang to the floor.

"What in heavens is going on?" the Englishman snapped as the shutters shook with each blow.

"They can't come in," Jess murmured as she looked to the shutters warily, "well they never have, they seem to want me to go to them rather than they come to me."

"God damn it, God damn it," Daniels muttered under his breath as he aimed his Colt at the shutters before turning back to the door as it was knocked again.

"Who's out there making all that racket at this hour?" Jonathan queried in irritation as he stood up at last and dusted down his jacket. He suddenly looked nervous as he thought of the people who might call upon his home at irregular hours. "Look if they're wanting money they've got the wrong house, I've already explained that!" he snapped as he gestured his hand out towards the door helplessly. "And if it's Ruby I've already told her we can't meet here, Evie gets prickly about these things."

"Really Jonathan?" Jess queried dryly as she gave him a look of disbelief.

"David..."

Daniels suddenly froze and paled at the voice that came through the shutters, his indigo eyes darting over to it in disbelief.

"David it's cold and dark out here, don't be unkind, let me in."

Daniels moved to the shutters quickly before either Jess or Jonathan could react. He yanked up the wooden pins that held them in place and flung them open, not caring how impossible this could be just knowing that he had to see the source of that voice. It had been so terribly long since he had last heard it, so many months of drowning out those last feeble whimpers with whiskey and beer.

Daniels face turned stark white at the sight that greeted him, a woman, his ranch beauty, only she wasn't the soft featured, porcelain belle he remembered no it was worse, she was the woman who possessed his nightmares not his dreams.

"Bethany?" he choked out her name, hating how it sounded now on his tongue like some wicked thing to be forgotten.

She offered him a smile only it wasn't the secretive, small grin she usually gave him, marred by the bloody swelling at her lips and the bruising about her jaw. She was wearing the same clothes she had been donning when she had died in his arms, a cream, silk blouse, torn asunder, buttons all missing, patchy with blood and hanging off her shoulders, and a skirt of royal blue linen forced up the leg, ripped up the side in the process. Her throat was red from where the final blow had been dealt but her exposed chest bore marks too, shallower cuts and bruising, all turned shades of blue and black in the night.

Her hand reached out to him, cold and sticky as it pressed against his right cheek and her dead, green eyes met his. They weren't the emerald jewels he recalled; rather they were like the dried muck of a swamp, green with poison and void of life. "Come outside love and put your arms around me, it's so cold out here."

BANG!

Daniels didn't even realise Jess had taken his other gun until it was already drawn and shot clumsily at Bethany's disturbing form. The undead woman backed from the window with a hiss and a howl of agony as the bullet struck against the side of her cheek, tearing a neat hole in it. Daniels just stood staring, dumb for a moment, as he saw no blood pooling at the wound, nor did Bethany react to it with any sense of pain, just anger.

Jess darted forward and slammed the wooden shutters closed, locking them into place with a pant of relief. It was as she started to turn that she found Daniels' hands upon her, shaking her violently as he shouted obscenities at her. "What the hell did you do that for?! Did I shoot your mother?!"

Jonathan moved to separate the two, pausing at Daniels' curious words with a troubled look.

"If that wasn't my mother then that wasn't your fiancée!" Jess shrieked back at him defiantly as she tried to wrench herself free from his hands. In a sly move she slammed his own gun into his still tender arm causing him to release her with a yelp of pain. "That wasn't her!" she snapped. "It's this damn curse! I told you to let me go alone, a mummy's bad enough but this..." She trailed off with a look of despair and sighed.

"What is this?" Daniels demanded, his eyes filled with fear and anger alike as he clutched at his arm with his free hand. "What did you take from that city? Why is this chaos god so pissed with you?"

"I didn't take anything," she retorted with a glower. "What I was seeking wasn't where it should have been."

"Didn't you take that sickle?" Jonathan piped up, wincing as Jess turned her glower on him. He remained back from the action, even more clueless than Daniels as to what was going on and attempting to tell himself that somehow it was all just a bad dream though he knew it couldn't be. After all, Jonathan's nightmares usually involved sweaty, pig eyed debt collectors or jealous husbands, richer than thought with muscular men in their pay, not the rotting apparitions of women he did not know.

"Yes but he doesn't care about that," Jess grumbled.

"Well what then is his concern if you didn't get what you wanted?" the American demanded.

"Someone else got it," Jess answered hotly, "and he fears I might yet use it." She shrugged. "Or so I suppose, maybe he just torments me because I alone survived the Thornwood curse."

"The book," Jonathan guessed as his blue eyes widened.

Jess nodded at him with a small, betraying scowl. She knew there was no point in denying it or being evasive about it, what did it matter now? It was too late now for anyone to consider that tampering with the book was a bad idea.

"Wait, were you intending on going after that today?" Daniels demanded. "Is that why you insisted on leaving the fort?"

"Well I needed a bath too," Jess answered crossly as her fierce stare returned to him, "but yes."

"You could've said," Jonathan remarked with a wounded look, "we would have helped."

"Really?" she queried sarcastically. "You two would have helped me roam the city with a mummy on the loose seeking a book that raised said mummy?"

"Well...when you put it like that," Jonathan murmured. "How about we would have tried to help the good Dr. Chamberlain?" Try as he might he could not muster any sincerity to his face at those words, fellow Englishman or not, even Jonathan considered the briefly met Egyptologist to be a cowardly ass. 'Man could have helped us,' he thought moodily, 'he's an Egyptologist for goodness' sake, he ought to know a bit about stopping this curse if anyone does!'

"Hell no," Daniels answered sternly, "because, as has been demonstrated, no bloody good can come from that book." If the American felt any loss over his former companion who had fled with the book once they had reached Cairo he had never shown or expressed it, save to grumble that the 'English prick probably sold his monkey trinket for a place to hide'.

"Only if you don't know what you're reading from it!" Jess protested as she gave him a defiant look.

"David where are you, I hear horses coming I'm scared!"

Daniels tensed again at the voice and looked to the shutters accusingly. "How do we get rid of that?" he demanded angrily.

"I don't know," Jess retorted quietly, looking miserable once more as the front door was knocked again.

"Little bunny let me kiss the bad dreams away," her mother's voice called out.

"Might I suggest upstairs?" Jonathan remarked weakly with a worried look. "That is, assuming they can't burst in here to rip us apart, at least they can't knock the doors upstairs er...I hope."

Jess nodded as she offered Daniels the handle of his gun. "I'm sorry for that," she said apologetically as she gestured to his arm with her free hand.

"It was a cheap shot," he grumbled as he took the gun and holstered it.

Jess just shrugged before heading into the kitchen with Anu hot on her heels. She returned and joined the men at the foot of the stairs, a fine kitchen knife now clutched tightly in her right hand.

"Is that really preferable to the gun?" Jonathan demanded, his own pistol now out in hand.

"I can use knives better than guns," Jess replied coolly, "and I like them better, they're pointy," she added in an attempt to diffuse a tense situation.

"Pointy," Jonathan repeated dubiously with a shake of his head before he led the way up.

"And guns are what, shooty?" Daniels queried sarcastically as he followed last.

Jess gave a faint smile at that. "Guns are noisy Mr. Daniels," she corrected, "they give you away."

"They also kill quicker," he muttered, "and call me David, after all this shit I think we've reached first name basis."

"That's the attitude Dave," Jonathan chirped up merrily as they reached the landing and he hastened to light the lamps.

"I said David, and I didn't say you could call me it," Daniels retorted hotly.

"So now what?" Jess queried, her face edged faintly in gold thanks to the amber flame of the light.

"Well there are two rooms," Jonathan murmured, "mine and Evelyn's, she has the larger one. Might I suggest we hide er...that is...set up base in there? Perhaps bar the door until morning?"

"I ain't hiding," Daniels grumbled.

"No, not at all," Jonathan said hastily with a slight grin, "none of us are, just resting until the morning that's all since evidently the streets aren't safe at night."

The Englishman led the way swiftly down the corridor and into a cosy room on the right, which was occupied by a single bed, an old, mahogany wardrobe, a vanity mirror, a desk littered with letters, books, papyrus sheets and pens, a chair, and an inordinate amount of relics, books, and ornaments. All of it looked interesting to Jess but not of any value and she couldn't help but smile at the battered, brown bear teddy almost lost beneath the cushions on the bed.

"She does have her hobbies," Jonathan grumbled as he discarded some books from the bed to the floor along with a couple of scarves and a pair of reading glasses.

"Nice bear," Daniels commented sardonically as he closed the door quietly and hurried to draw the cream linen curtains at the window.

"Ah," Jonathan mused as he plucked the bear up with one hand, showing it to be dressed as an explorer and missing one eye, "this would be Sir Percy Bearington Esquire."

"A pleasure," Jess murmured with a small smile and a nod. "Mine was Baron Fluffy, he was a rabbit," she confessed.

"Really?" Daniels echoed dryly as leaned against the wall, gun cocked in one hand as he reached in his shirt pocket with the other for a cigarette. "You made him a baron but you called him Fluffy?"

"And what was yours called?" Jess retorted moodily as she folded her arms and looked to him questioningly. "Or is that the problem? You didn't have a teddy bear and grew up a lonely uncuddled boy?"

Daniels frowned back at her as he placed the cigarette in his mouth and then hunted for his matches. He paused as he realised his predicament, he would have to temporarily relinquish his gun to strike the match.

Jess stepped forward then, tucking her newly acquired knife through her belt and holding her hand out for the matchbox. Daniels gave her a stern look even as he allowed her to take the box; she tugged out a match, lit it with the first strike and then held it up to his cigarette. His face was illuminated briefly by the small flame, two sparks appearing briefly in his dark eyes before the cigarette was lit and Jess blew the match out softly. The Texan's eyes never left the woman as he drew on the cigarette and then tugged it out to breathe the smoke out gently, turning his head up slightly to avoid breathing it in the woman's face.

"Billy, alright," he admitted at last, "and I barely had him, preferred tin soldiers if you need to know, which you don't."

Jonathan let out a snort, which he then poorly disguised as a cough when he felt Daniels' displeasured gaze upon him.

"What was yours Jonathan?" Jess quipped, though she still held Daniels' gaze as she offered him a small, brief smile that seemed happy rather than taunting.

"Oh no, I wasn't the sort," the Englishman waffled with a nervous chortle.

"Liar," Daniels was quick to accuse, "you Johnny boy are definitely the sort, bet you still have the thing."

"I certainly don't, such a novel idea," Jonathan scoffed, "just because my sister is so sentimental-"

"Shall we look in his room and see?" Jess suggested with a mischievous look.

Daniels nodded as he took another puff. "Might kill some time," he mused.

"Er now wait a minute!" Jonathan protested as he abandoned his sister's bear at last and stood up with a wave of his hand. "It wasn't a bear, more of a um...well a duck..."

"Shit son," Daniels grumbled with a roll of his eyes, "you had a duck for a bear?"

"Yes," Jonathan muttered defensively, "it was stuffed like any bear, nicer too, unique even, I called him Quacky, trouble was," he murmured quietly with a sorrowful look, "he couldn't swim like other ducks."

Daniels burst out laughing at that before he could help himself whilst Jess chuckled quietly before turning to Jonathan with a pitying glance. "Oh dear, and even after that you still didn't learn to value your possessions?" she queried teasingly.

"Quite the opposite!" he protested moodily as he sat back down on the bed again and glared at the pair angrily. "I value them most dearly, especially when they're made of gold or silver."

"Just not stuffing and feathers," Jess continued to joke.

"And do you still have your bear?" Jonathan demanded. "I bet you abandoned it just as foolishly."

"No," Jess retorted, quieter now as a dark look crossed her features, "they wouldn't let me take him from the house, perhaps he's still there."

"Ah," Jonathan looked appropriately guilty as he realised his error, "I'm sorry I-"

"It's okay," Jess assured him with a gentle look, "there's no harm in asking and you made me laugh so I would forgive you anyway."

"Glad to be of service," he murmured with a half-hearted smile as he leaned back against the collection of pillows stacked up against the headboard.

They shared a companionable silence then, Jess and Daniels sitting on the end of the bed once Daniels had finished his smoke. The American's eyes kept flickering towards the window whilst Jess looked to the door. It took the pair twenty minutes before they noticed that Jonathan had nodded off and was now comfortably lying on his sister's bed, hands crossed on chest as he blissfully snored.

"Must be nice to have nothing to keep you awake," Daniels sneered as he glanced over his shoulder at the man. He missed the irony that it was only moments ago he had been passed out and Jonathan who had been awake.

"Must be," Jess murmured with a longing in her voice. "My mother used to sing me lullabies to help me sleep. He was looking for me," she confessed suddenly, "my father that is, he was looking for me so she hid me and he...he got her instead."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Daniels murmured appropriately with an awkward glance at the woman.

Jess nodded. "Do you want to talk about your fiancée?" she queried quietly.

"No," came the blunt retort. Daniels sighed and tugged off his fedora, holding it one hand in his lap and staring into its dark interior, a black hole in the poorly lit room. He couldn't even fathom who or what he had seen downstairs, he had told Jess that it wasn't really her mother but he had to ponder it, had to consider the possibility. Bethany had seemed so real and that voice... He suppressed a shudder and tried to dismiss the thought, to go any further with it was to invite madness to his mind.

"I'm sorry you got caught up in my curse and that...that it brought her back."

"Stop apologising already," Daniels grumbled at her, "I don't blame you and I'm not gonna. The only thing I'm sorry for is coming to this hellhole."

"Well I can't be sorry for that," Jess answered softly, her voice almost a whisper, "I'm glad I met you, that is all of you," she added hastily. "I was alone for a long time with all these secrets about my family and you guys have all helped with that. Of course I wish the circumstances could've been better..." She shrugged then.

"Me too," Daniels murmured as he looked at her with surprise. He was certain that she was blushing slightly but the room was too dark for him to be certain. "So how long have you been alone here anyway?"

"In Cairo? Just a couple of years."

"And in general?" he pried.

"Eight years, I was seventeen when it happened."

Daniels looked across at her, curious and yet wary of pushing the issue. "And those six years in between?" he questioned bluntly.

"What would you do Mr. Daniels if you found your niece the lone survivor of a massacre that evidently took months to carry out?" she replied coolly. "The sole witness to her own family's torture and murders at the hands of her own father?" She wrapped her arms about her knees and leaned forward to them slightly. "And her the only real obstacle between you and your brother's obscene fortune?"

"I..." Daniels trailed off, dreading the answer and deciding that the question was rhetorical anyway.

"My uncle had me placed in an asylum," she confessed bitterly, "quietly out of the way, never to be thought of again. I was there for two years before an aunt on mother's side made enquiries, I was declared as sane as could be and released to her care. I spent the following four years finding a way here. It wasn't hard in the end, uncle never improved the security much on my home, I stole what I needed, bought a boat ticket and then spent two years in Cario following rumours and lies until I found your party talking of Hamunaptra."

"Well shit jackal that's some story," Daniels murmured. "Weren't you happy with your aunt?"

"No, she called my father awful things, made implications about my brothers helping him, and was determined to marry me off as quickly as possible to a suitor that would benefit her."

"You English and your social marriages," Daniels scoffed as he finally put his hat back on.

"What about you Mr. Daniels? What family did you leave behind in the Wild West?" Jess pried calmly as she looked at him with intrigue.

Daniels let out a low bark of a laugh at that. "Wild West?" he sneered with a shake of his head. "Henderson would love to hear you say that, he still thinks there's hope for it but truthfully there's little wild about it, except," he added with a dark look, "some of the bastards that haunt it but sure you'll find their kind anywhere. I'm from the lone star state," he explained proudly, "Texas, born and raised."

"What's it like?" Jess queried as she stared at him with a deep fascination that flattered him as much as it surprised him. "My brothers Lorcan and Corbin had all these books about cowboys and Indians, Lorcan kept trying to shoot like a cowboy but Corbin wanted to be an Indian, he was a prize winning archer."

Daniels shook his head once more in mild amusement though he felt a twinge of guilt at the thought of crushing the woman's fantasy of his homeland. "Well it ain't like that anymore," he confessed, "it passed about a decade or so ago." Seeing the woman's forlorn look he added hastily, "it's still wild, just in a different way, the West ain't a place to be easily tamed. You should see it sometime, mountains, rivers, valleys, all the wildlife, buffalo, bears, wolves, and your cattle and horses. No closed spaces, no tight packed cities, just freedom for miles."

Jess smiled at the thought. "It sounds nice but why did you leave it for Egypt if it's so exciting?"

Daniels grimaced slightly and let out another sigh. "You ain't letting it off easy are you jackal?" he quipped accusingly. "Because of Bethany," he confessed with a dark frown, "I...I went off the rails a bit after her death, I know, nice guy like me, couldn't imagine that right?" He gave a small, bitter grin at this. "It was Henderson's plan; Burns had only lost his sister a few months back, Katie." He tensed suddenly, staring forward with wide eyes. "Shit he was the last one...his mother...I..." His face crumpled as finally the reality of the day's events seeped in, weakening his stubborn refusal to give into his grief. "Ah fuck Bernie I'm so sorry. What am I going to do without you? You're the reasonable one, you keep me sane and you stop Henry from going half cocked."

The American flinched when he felt Jess' left palm rest upon the top of his right hand and yet he did not shake her off, instead he turned to her with a dejected look and sighed. "I don't know how to get by without him," he admitted, "Henry is the one with the mad ideas but Bernie always brought the sense to him and he always seemed able to diffuse things, he is...was the reasonable one..."

"I could tell," Jess replied with a gentle smile. "You will get by though," she assured, "it's hard but people always get by. Just don't forget him, people say it's easier to forget sometimes and maybe it is but I don't think it's fair or right. They brought so much happiness to your lives, they deserve to be remembered."

Daniels nodded in agreement as he let another heavy silence fill the air. His body was tired but his mind was not, afraid to usher in nightmares. 'Will I have much more time to sleep?' he wondered bitterly. 'That creature is going to come back and then what?'

"Tell me more about Texas," Jess piped up, in a deliberate attempt to distract the man from his woes.

Daniels glanced down at her again and realised she had to have the same fears and concerns as him, worse she had come to Hamunaptra for some other reason, something to do with that damn book, a purpose to do with her family that might never be achieved thanks to this mummy. Worse, he thought that in his own odd way he might have grown fond of her, whether it was because they had been so closely thrust together thanks to a shared fate, or because Henderson and Burns liked her making him view her in a different light he did not know. Maybe it was her stubbornness his insults, the way she tried to neutralise their horror with humour or her independence or gutsy nature. 'Hell maybe it's because it's only been her and Miss Carnahan in the desert,' he thought bitingly. He then dismissed the thought just as fast. He hadn't even looked at Jess that way in the desert, Evelyn yes, hard not to notice her beauty, especially that night in the river, damn hadn't she looked desirable then, clad in white like an angel and yet everything on display just Eve in the garden. Okay there had been that night at dinner, he might have noticed Jess then but that was Evelyn's influence she had helped the woman scrub up and she had looked nice but not natural, not herself. Jess was scruffy, wild and totally unlady like and he liked it. Damn she had worn him down hadn't she? Without her even realising or trying.

Jess wasn't surprised when Daniels finally shook her hand off but when he slipped the same hand round her back and over her right shoulder she felt a sudden quiver of shock run through her.

For a moment the pair were still, letting the gesture remain between them, daring the other to mention it or end it or even pursue it. At last, Daniels remembered Jess had said something and he finally spoke again. "Texas has everything, canyons, mountains, deserts, forests, rivers, lakes, it's all there. I've seen lakes that have mist sitting on them all morning long, great red cliffs in the canyons with mean coyotes, and endless forests of these tall, green trees. Course there's no money to be had in it, not for me, that's the damn problem, and they're trying to bring the law into it, these dumbass city folk who don't know shit about the country life, man has to travel across the ocean to get a damn drink unless he's crafty enough to get it through other means."

"You don't have alcohol?" Jess queried in surprise, she just could not believe that given Daniels temperament for it.

Daniels laughed again. "Oh we got it, some folk just think we shouldn't is all, self-righteous bastards."

Jess leaned against the man slowly then and he welcomed her, deciding that her warmth pressed against him wasn't so bad given even in the house the cold air of Egypt's dark night still managed to seep in. She nodded as he continued on, telling her about his ranch back home, formerly his father's, he confessed he had almost mucked up the running of it until Henderson had shown him the right way of it. It was, he explained, how he and Henderson had become friends. The blonde had been widowed young, wife and brother lost to the same fever, and he had welcomed the distraction of a friend and neighbour who had just inherited a ranch and was green to the running of it. Burns had joined them later, a would be city boy who they had teased mercilessly for his bookish ways even as they loved him for it and benefited from his smarts.

When Daniels became troubled, his words slowing as he mentioned his deceased friend, Jess had squeezed his free hand with her own and smiled up at him gently. "It's good to talk about him," she reminded him, "it keeps him alive in a way and I like hearing about him, he was a wonderful man, I wish I could have known him better and maybe through you I can."

"Damn you know what to say don't you? You're like him in the way, Bernie always knew what to say," Daniels mused as he held her gaze with his own serious stare.

"I know what to say when it comes to loss; I've learned the right and wrong ways of grief I suppose."

"Well I hate hearing that," Daniels confessed with a grimace, "but I do appreciate you knowing what to say."

She nodded again before Jonathan let out a loud snort, startling them both. They exchanged a look and Daniels smiled as Jess let out a soft laugh. "I hope the others aren't too worried," Jess murmured.

"With Johnny to protect us why should they be?" Daniels scoffed sardonically.

Jess stifled another laugh. "He's good in his way, I mean he's offered his shelter, he can use his gun and he does look out for his sister."

"True," Daniels allowed as he pulled her a little closer against him, "but I think I'll still awake anyway, wouldn't do for Johnny to miss out on his dreams to keep us safe."

"No," Jess agreed as she nestled her head against the Texan's chest and smiled again.


	13. Chapter 13- Striving for Survival

Jonathan, Daniels, Jess, and Anu stepped outside to a warm, rosy dawn. Already the streets were beginning to bustle with activity as stalls were set up; traders hastened back and forth, delivery carts rolled past slowly pulled by donkeys, and businessmen clad in robes with their faces partially obscured by the kufiya that hung round their heads. They caught the aroma of spices, perfumes, fresh meats and fish in the air. Down some of the shadier alleyways there was also a mixture of spoiled fruits and neglected sewage and in the richer parts of the marketplace dried flowers and imported fruits hid the stench of salty sweat and donkey and camel faeces.

Daniels thought morbidly that it was like an entirely different city, no longer a shadowy maze of narrow streets and buildings offering numerous hiding places for a monster now it was a labyrinth of trinkets, people and trade ready to sucker in the gullible as women at stalls promised "ancient" treasures for jewellery whilst street urchins raided the pockets of these would be buyers. He shook his head in disgust refusing to be calmed by the tranquillity as Jonathan and Jess were.

As far as the American was concerned the city was hot, smelly, and overcrowded. He was starting to become slick with sweat and it wasn't even noon and there were too many flies buzzing near him for comfort. This was a backward land and he was done with its horrors and bullshit, all he wanted was to get on a ship as soon as possible and head for home.

Jess found herself appreciative of the familiarity of Cairo finally restored in the morning. Though it was not enough to banish the horrors of last night she could at least feel optimistic that they weren't going to encounter any mummies or ghouls on the streets anytime soon. "The others must be so worried," she murmured as she sidestepped a couple of children chasing a cat.

"Not at all," Jonathan retorted brightly, "I sent a messenger to them last night, didn't think it would do to leave my sister fretting that we had all been drained or killed."

"Drained and killed," Daniels retorted coldly as he thought of his friend's all too recent plight. He made a point of shoving his way through a small group of people, ignoring Jonathan's tutting as he did.

"You know I'd like some tea," Jonathan mused, "maybe you would appreciate some coffee Mr. Daniels? I think you're cranky."

Daniels bristled and Jess was quick to interject before Daniels could snap something in response. "That would be a good idea," the dirty fair haired woman commented.

Daniels glanced over his left shoulder at her sternly. "Back at the fort," he said sharply. Not even bothering with subtly he added bluntly, "you needn't think of running off to look for Chamberlain and that bloody book."

"Well why not?" Jess grumbled as she frowned back at the man. "It's daylight, I don't think our friend can travel in the day, if only because people might notice a shambling mummy in the sunshine."

"I don't know he did send some flaming rocks to the fort, I don't think our friend cares about being noticed," Jonathan mused with a thoughtful look. Of the three only he looked alert, Jess and Daniels both had a greyness to their pallor and bags under their bloodshot eyes.

"He didn't send them," Jess pointed out, "they're part of the plagues, which he was cursed to have accompany him upon his resurrection."

"How is that not the same thing?" Jonathan demanded.

"And how do you know that again?" Daniels quipped tiredly. Jess hadn't been there when Dr. Chamberlain had read the curse on the chest and though he couldn't recall the exact words having paid little attention to what he had considered at the time to be ancient scaremongering bullshit he didn't think it had mentioned the ten plagues per say. He recalled vaguely some mentioning of the plagues but it seemed like a lifetime ago and he was too tired to properly remember when or how the plagues had come up in conversation.

"Evelyn told us at the campfire remember?" Jess reminded him. "A victim of the hom-dai, as the mummy was, would be cursed to bring the ten plagues with him should he arise, which is not the same thing as him choosing to curse us with the plagues."

They had reached the centre of the market place now where sacks sat open inviting them to look at colourful spices, colourful rugs were stacked up against walls, noisy birds chirped from wooden cages, perfumes seeped through the air from fancy bottles of coloured glass and bronze, and the jewels in brooches, necklaces and bracelets winked at them under the sun. Jonathan looked at the wares hungrily whilst Jess stopped briefly to breathe in some of the scents. Anu stood beside them impatiently, panting from the heat.

"Myrrh and amber," Jess murmured appreciatively, "I love the smell of myrrh."

"A bit morbid," Jonathan scolded as he gave her an odd look, "it is an embalming oil after all."

"Let's just get to the fort already," Daniels grumbled as he frowned at both of them, "you two aren't swiping anything shiny today."

"The thought never crossed my mind!" Jonathan protested with an appalled look.

"It crossed mine a little," Jess admitted as she looked thoughtfully at a necklace. It was a fine gold chain with a gold ankh as its pendant with a garnet in the centre of the cross at the bottom of the loop.

"Now I know that's morbid," Daniels scorned as he followed her gaze, "that jackal faced creep was holding one of those."

"Anubis Mr. Daniels," Jonathan chirped up merrily, "we'll get you educated on the country you tried to plunder from yet!"

"It's an ankh," Jess explained as she smiled even as Daniels glowered at Jonathan threateningly, "and even though Anubis is a god associated with death, being the god of embalming and judgement, the ankh is a symbol of life."

Daniels shrugged. "Well I shouldn't expect a religion based around animal headed gods to make any damn sense, heathen bastards," he scorned. "A god associated with death, I knew he looked like a creepy bastard."

"He's not an evil god," Jess chided him.

"Well those jackals trying to break into the tent seemed pretty damn evil," Daniels grumbled.

"I don't know," Jess admitted quietly, "sometimes, thinking back, I wonder if they were trying to ward us off. Scare us away before we could do something stupid."

Daniels rolled his indigo eyes and muttered dryly, "or maybe they were just a bunch of rabid jackals."

They started walking again, Daniels herding Jess and Jonathan on, giving several curses each time they wavered at the sight of shiny trinkets on display. At one point he lost all patience and simply started shoving the pair on while grumbling, 'you don't need it and you can't bloody have it.'

Jess sighed moodily as she realised Daniels wasn't going to easily let her out of his sight and knew she had to admit defeat when the fort loomed into view. 'Why do I even care?' she thought angrily. 'I could give them both the slip in these crowds, and why shouldn't I? I need that book!' She knew the answer though, a selfish part of it was fear for her own safety and the security of numbers but a greater part of it was worry for the others and knowing she would be distracted by concern for them if she left for the book. She had to at least know that Henderson, Evelyn and Rick had survived the night and were okay.

They found Rick, Evelyn and Henderson in the courtyard of the fort, resting at a round, mosaic decorated table under the shade of a cream coloured parasol. Evelyn was sipping at a cup of tea whilst Rick and Henderson were reluctantly drinking water knowing it was a little too early for drinks even if the situation did warrant it. In the middle of the table was a largely untouched meagre breakfast of toast and porridge. The three looked mildly worried but rested at least.

Spying the arriving party, Evelyn was quick to narrow her hazel eyes, stand and hasten over to them. She was back in a more familiar attire wearing a long, brown skirt, light, white shirt and a long, thin, black cardigan and looked once more like the English scholar she was determined to be. The comfort of her own clothes gave Evelyn a certain rush of confidence this was who she was as she drunkenly proclaimed to O'Connell one night by the fire, she was a librarian damn it, an intelligent woman who could easily outwit any of these men and she was not going to be run down by their rough charm or inflated egos.

SLAP!

Daniels was not expecting the sudden blow of Evelyn's palm and as a result he felt the full force of it across his right cheek and found himself recoiling as much in shock as in pain. Jonathan and Jess froze to gape at the woman in surprise as they wondered if she had gone mad. Anu narrowed his ears and growled at the woman.

"What in the hell was that for!?" Daniels roared as Henderson shook his head and Rick gave a smile before they both finally stood up from the table. "Have you gone nuts?!"

"You should know very well what that was for Mr. Daniels," Evelyn informed him haughtily as she lowered her hand. She frowned as her eyes went wide at the scarlet mark on his cheek; she had surprised herself with the force of the blow.

"I damn well don't you crazy bitch!"

"Now Daniels no need for the language," Rick scorned with a warning look as he arrived to stand beside Evelyn.

"You took advantage of Miss Thorn er...Jess," Evelyn scorned him with a glower, "and under my roof! Honestly, I always thought you were a bit of a brute but given the circumstances you could have contained yourself!" She folded her arms and continued to glare up at the outraged, red faced American.

"Um what?" Jess piped up in confusion as her cheeks turned a faint pink.

"You had no right to treat Jess so shamelessly!" Evelyn continued to scold.

"Evie what exactly are you talking about?" Jonathan questioned as he glanced from Daniels to her in confusion. He was purposely standing back, keeping a healthy distance from his fuming sister.

"Oh Jonathan you know, you sent the messenger!" Evelyn exclaimed as she threw her hands out at him in frustration.

"Yes," Henderson remarked as he folded his arms and looked to Jonathan crossly, "not really the kind of news to send by messenger Johnny boy." His moody blue stare then fell on Daniels and gave his friend a disapproving frown. Daniels looked back at first in puzzlement and then in annoyance.

"I think something got lost in translation," Jonathan retorted with a nervous laugh.

"What in the hell did you tell that messenger to say?" Daniels demanded as he turned to the Englishman with a scowl.

"That you and Jess had gone to sleep together so we would be back in the morning...oh." Jonathan paused as his eyes filled with recognition. "Ahem, I meant that they had fallen asleep on the couch Evie," he explained as he gave his sister a sheepish smile. "Although we all moved to the bed didn't we?" he continued quietly with a thoughtful look.

"Jonathan!" Evelyn squealed with a revolted look.

"Really?" Rick queried as he looked to the now crimson Jess. "Both of them? You're wilder than I thought, you planning that honeymoon with Jonathan for real?"

"No!" Jess stammered out with her own look of revulsion. "We sat on the end of the bed awake! Only Jonathan fell asleep upstairs! Anyway, don't we have more important things to worry about? I don't think that mummy thing's sorting itself out."

"Even if we did do something why in the hell should I get slapped for it?" Daniels complained as his fiery stare returned to Evelyn. "And what business would it be of yours?"

"Well it was in my house for a start Mr. Daniels!" Evelyn retorted heatedly as she made of a point of holding his glare and standing as tall as she could. "And Miss Jess is young and alone, someone should watch out for her interests and protect her from men like you!"

"Men like me? What in the hell is that supposed to mean?" Daniels shouted back in annoyance.

Neither the American nor the Englishwoman seemed prepared to back down, nor did they care about the attention their raised voices was gathering. Daniels abandoned what sliver of respect he had left for Evelyn, due to her being of the fairer sex, and leaned close enough to put her face in the shade of his hat.

Henderson cracked a small, bitter smile at Daniels' retort whilst Rick chuckled. "She means uneducated cads who run with fast women," Rick explained as he took another step forward, "at least that's how she explained it earlier." Whilst the dashing Chicago native wanted to calmly remind Daniels of boundaries he wasn't quite willing to risk Evelyn's wrath, certain she would reprimand him for helping.

"You're all the same," Evelyn grumbled as she turned to Rick with an accusing stare, "hot blooded Americans who think women should just fall at your feet because you're adventurous and can shoot well!"

"I'm twenty-five," Jess remarked defensively, seizing a chance to speak between the yells, "and I'm not stupid."

"No, of course not," Evelyn said quickly with a kind look, "and I didn't mean to imply that, it's just...well..." She tailed off with an embarrassed smile.

"What?" Daniels demanded angrily as he arched his dark eyebrows and glared fiercely at her.

"Miss Jess gives you the same dopey look Miss Carnahan gives O'Connell," Henderson remarked moodily with a look of impatience, "that's what David." The blonde had now tired of the childish shouting match between his friend and Evelyn. He was already fed up thanks to a mostly sleepless night, his unending guilt and grief over the horrible death of his friend, and the sticky, almost suffocating heat of the afternoon.

"I do not!" both women protested in unison.

Henderson rested his hands on his hips and let out a heavy sigh as he shook his head. "I wasn't gonna say nothin'," he confessed, "but Bernie noticed it too, he was going to say something to you Dave but he never got the chance," he added sombrely as he looked at Daniels.

Daniels' face turned to disbelief as his indigo eyes flickered over to Henderson and he muttered, "it ain't like that."

Evelyn looked to the blonde too in protest whilst Jess took the opportunity to hasten off. She didn't quite run, refusing to be so dramatic, but she was nimble enough on her feet to cross half the courtyard in seconds.

"You bloody men!" Evelyn cursed at all of them before she turned and hurried after Jess, her black court shoes echoing loudly on the hard tiles.

"Tactful Henderson," Rick scolded the blonde as he folded his arms and frowned, "even if she does like Daniels for no reason I can understand given he's as sociable as a rock and as pleasant as a hornet sting in the ass you didn't have to say it in front of us."

"Fuck you O'Connell," Daniels cursed at the man as he tugged off his hat and ran his right hand through his raven black hair.

Henderson shrugged carelessly before wiping at his sweat glistening brow with the back of his right hand. "Given Evelyn's outburst I figured the time for tact had passed," he grumbled. "Anyway, it's hot out here; let's go sit in the shade again."

"Um shouldn't we go after them?" Jonathan pointed out as he turned about with a perplexed look trying to spy where the women had gone to.

"Nah," Rick answered, "Jess is embarrassed now, which is mainly your fault Jonathan, let some time pass so she can assume we've changed topic, Evie can calm her down and both of them can cool off and stop being mad at us, and then we can get going."

"How is it my fault?" Jonathan queried with a slight frown. "I'm not a hot headed American." He forced a sheepish smile to his face when three sets of eyes turned his way, all of them burning with hostility.

"You got that right son," Daniels grumbled at him.

Anu let out a low whine and looked up at Daniels expectantly. The Texan frowned down at the dog and snapped, "what? Run along mutt," he dismissed the dog before following Henderson and O'Connell to the table with Jonathan close behind.

Evelyn cornered Jess in the reception area of the fort before the young blonde could give her the slip. Evelyn thought Jess had merely left to escape humiliation, not guessing that she had in fact designs to abandon the fort and find Chamberlain and the book now that she was satisfied that everyone was safe.

Jess turned to Evelyn with annoyance when the brunette grabbed her left arm gently to halt her as she passed the reception desk. Seeing the sympathy and guilt in the woman's hazel eyes made Jess soften her own gaze as she realised Evelyn was genuinely concerned for her.

"I am very sorry for all that," Evelyn apologised sincerely, "and I did not mean to apply any fault with you. You and I are friends," she insisted, "and, well I know you can take care of yourself, quite admirably in fact, but you shouldn't have to, at least not all the time. I just thought Mr. Daniels," she paused as she struggled to find the right way to express herself. "Well these Americans seem to think they can just go around kissing women and it doesn't have to mean anything," she grumbled crossly with a frown.

"But he didn't kiss me," Jess pointed out quietly. She thought that they had reached the heart of Evelyn's misplaced anger at last. She raised her eyebrows slightly as she looked at Evelyn inquisitively, her smile widening as the woman flustered and blushed slightly before her.

"Right, right," Evelyn dismissed as she finally released Jess' arm, "a misunderstanding Jonathan caused, no surprise there. I just, I know we have all come together through some strange and terrible events but even when it's done I want us to remain friends." Evelyn knew she didn't sound right, she couldn't say what she really wanted to, that she feared Daniels and Henderson remained with them out of necessity, not desire and that when this nightmare ended they would hop on a boat for the States not caring if Jess remained a beggar in the streets of Cario. 'And will Rick be on that boat with them?' she pondered bitterly. 'Surely he misses his homeland.'

"Well if we all survive this you shall have my friendship forever," Jess assured her cheerfully.

Evelyn grimaced slightly at the woman's wording before shaking her head. "On that note, I know someone who might give us some answers."

"Oh?" Jess looked curious though she had her doubts about this.

Evelyn nodded confidently. "We should return to the men, we had plans to go to the Museum of Antiquities as soon as you returned. I work there you see and I am hopeful that the curator, Mr. Bey, might be able to give us some help with our er...mummy problem."

"Alright."

Jess allowed Evelyn to lead the way back to the courtyard, once again setting aside her plan to find Chamberlain. She considered that she did not know where exactly in Cairo the man might be after all and if she waited around she could maybe get the answer out of Henderson as she doubted Daniels would share, if he even knew. Perhaps they would even realise that finding him and the book was the best option and she could simply tag along and seize the book at the right opportunity.

Daniels purposely avoided looking at Jess as she arrived with Evelyn, instead he kept his head tilted down and hidden beneath the brow of his hat. Henderson had grumbled at him moodily for leaving him alone all night so soon after Burns' demise and, intentional or not, the blonde was taking Daniels' abandonment of him and the fort personally.

"Shall we go then?" Evelyn queried calmly as she gave them all a frosty stare.

Henderson shrugged before standing and placing on his brown cowboy hat. "May as well try something," he muttered though it was clear in his blue eyes that he was starting to lose any hope of survival.

"Jonathan did you at least bring the car?" Evelyn queried.

Jonathan gave an awkward chuckle at that as he felt Daniels' indigo eyes boring into him. "You mean we didn't have to walk in that heat past all those damn stalls over those dirty streets?" the American snapped.

"Well we did," Jonathan muttered, "funny thing about a car, it costs money to run it."

"Oh for God's sake," Evelyn lamented, "I'd have given you money Jonathan!"

Rick tugged a coin purse out of his own trouser pocket and threw it across the table to the Englishman. "How about you go sort out the car and we'll meet you down there?" he suggested.

Jonathan snatched up the coin purse eagerly before glancing nervously up at the sky. "Well the sun's still pretty high," he remarked aloud, "shouldn't be so bad, no mummies or ghouls in the sunshine, right?" He looked up at Jess for confirmation.

"Ghouls?" Rick echoed as he glanced from Jonathan to Jess suspiciously.

"You'll be safe from the undead," Jess assured Jonathan, "but in your case isn't it the living that usually causes you problems?"

"Good point," Jonathan mused even as he stood. "Alright chaps, I'll see you soon." He turned and scurried off.

The rest of them headed to the museum on foot, walking as briskly as they could, which wasn't easy given the heat of the afternoon and the crowds of Cario. Henderson matched pace with Daniels at the back of the group, his hands itching towards his pistols every couple of feet whilst he kept his gaze steadily on Rick.

"Even the dog's taken with you now," Henderson grumbled sardonically as Anu walked at Daniels' left side and Jess', wavering between the two.

"I gave him chicken," Daniels murmured back dryly, "dogs like chicken, Henry."

"Well I'm glad you had a good night playing dog whisperer David," Henderson shot back angrily.

Daniels' gaze flickered across to his companion sharply. "Stop being sore cause I got out of the fort and you didn't, you coulda come too and I didn't intend for it to be all night."

"Bernie's barely cold, we should be sticking together David," Henderson scolded him.

"Sticking together for what?" Daniels retorted heatedly. "Getting our innards sucked out?" It was bad enough walking once more over dirty streets and through tight packed crowds in sweltering heat but dealing with Henderson's moodiness was just adding to Daniels' already short temper.

"Always the optimist, right? Why are you even coming to this museum if you're so set on death then?" Henderson replied angrily.

Daniels shrugged. "Maybe I want to see some real fucking treasure before I die," he retorted, his voice rising slightly as he did, "because there was damn all in that desert worth dying for. Least if I can go out having seen some gold that might be something!"

"It's just some statues and pottery here," Jess interrupted them calmly as she glanced over her shoulder at the pair with a faint smile, "you'll have to go to Alexandria for the treasure."

"Too bad the boat got cancelled," Daniels murmured as he finally looked at her. He had learned from Henderson and O'Connell that due to the odd weather yesterday the boat to Alexandria had not docked in Cairo and they were now effectively trapped in the city.

"Well we'll get the next one," Jess replied cheerfully, "and I'll show you both Cleopatra's pearls and Ramses' coins."

"That'd be nice," Henderson forced himself to answer, making an effort to sound vaguely happy. "We'll do that while waiting for the ship home, right David?" He glanced at his friend with a spark of desperation in his cerulean eyes.

Daniels met his friend's stare and realised that Henderson needed to hear him say the words so that he could claw back some of his lost hope for seeing home again. "Right Henry," he answered stiffly though he couldn't force any optimism into his own voice.

They turned round a corner and up a side street before emerging before the Museum of Antiquities. Two identical polished statues of Egyptian men, made from a smooth alabaster turned golden peach in the light of the sun, stood guard on either side of the entrance. The sign for the building was in a plain, black font in English and Egyptian, it sat in a square above the equally unimpressive wooden shutter styled doors that opened into the building.

Jonathan greeted them at the entrance with a smile before allowing Evelyn to lead them in hastily. They passed glass cases containing ancient relics and worn scrolls, half-crumbled tablets, broken spear heads, and rusting scimitars, statues of marble, bronze and clay, and creepy looking sarcophagi that had taken on a now sinister appearance in light of recent events.

Jonathan shuddered slightly at a wall displaying painted images and hieroglyphs depicting the life of Seti I. Once appearing to the Englishman as a pharaoh of promising riches, now Jonathan viewed him as a man of mysteries best left alone.

They finally entered the main chamber of the museum to be greeted with surprise by the curator and a familiar companion. Rick, Jonathan, Daniels and Henderson yanked out their guns immediately as everyone shouted, "you!"

The bearded curator's companion was none other than Ardeth Bay, the nomad leader, now without his cowl about his face and regarding them with an unimpressed, brown gaze.

"Miss Carnahan, gentlemen," the curator greeted them wearily with a nod.

"What is he doing here?!" Evelyn spluttered out as she continued staring at Ardeth.

"Do you truly wish to know?" the curator quipped sardonically. "Or would you prefer to just shoot us?" He was a smartly dressed man; wearing neat, black robes akin to Ardeth's only a white shirt collar and the start of a black tie were visible beneath his. He also wore a red fez like the one both Beni and Dr. Chamberlain favoured, this coupled with his stern expression and air of smug authority put Jess in mind of the missing Egyptologist.

Rick sighed before raising his gun and clicking the safety on. "After what I've witnessed I'm willing to go on a little faith," he remarked calmly.

The curator looked at Daniels and Henderson who pointedly refused to raise their guns whilst Ardeth's disapproving gaze fell on Jess. "Perhaps we should move to a less hostile position?" the curator suggested as he stepped back to welcome them into the chamber.

The chamber was decorated lavishly with gilded and beautifully painted chairs, old wooden chests coated in imagery of jackals and birds, and trinkets beneath glass all resting on black tiles behind red velvet ropes linked to gold posts. On a stand behind them was the impressive reconstruction of Seti in an authentic Egyptian chariot, a real bow and arrows at his back whilst two black horses were at the front of the chariot, forever running and yet forever still. To the right was a wooden boat, its green, blue and red paintwork still bold despite its age, though its oars were now replicas, the origins long rotted away.

Jonathan immediately took up position on the chariot like a naughty schoolboy, Rick sat on a gilded seat and rested his dirty brown boots on a wooden chest before him, and Henderson and Daniels sat opposite him with equal carelessness. Evelyn, the curator, and Ardeth Bay all stood in the centre. Evelyn eyed each of the men with fresh disapproval before shaking her head.

Jess and Anu hung back, Jess eyeing the black slabs on the wall with carefully engraved heliographs on them, each picture painted with melted gold. Her eyes darted from each one before flickering to the palm trees and the bronze torches and then the chariot. She looked to the small gathering then, finding it mildly amusing to see them all behind the red rope like they were the exhibition.

"We are part of an ancient secret society," the curator started to address them sombrely. "For over 3,000 years we have guarded the City of the Dead. We are sworn at manhood to do any and all in our power to stop the High Priest Imhotep from being reborn into this world."

"Because of you, we have failed," Ardeth added frostily.

"Imhotep?" Jess echoed curiously as she stepped up to the chariot nimbly.

Jonathan stepped closer to the front to welcome the woman as he gave her a small grin of welcoming.

The curator gave the Pharaoh Hound a look of displeasure. "Yes, Imhotep, that is the creature's name."

Jess gave a careless shrug. "He That Shall Not Be Named is a little more impressive."

"Well it's always nice to have a name for the nightmares," Jonathan jested lamely as he leaned over the edge of the chariot, slinging both his arms over its chipped paintwork in a cavalier fashion.

"And you think this justifies killing innocent people?!" Evelyn snapped as she looked at the curator angrily. "You set fire to that map on purpose didn't you?!"

"To stop this creature?" the curator quipped sardonically. "Let me think, yes!" he snapped without a pause. "A thousand times yes!"

"And you told them we were going on the boat!" she accused as she gestured to Ardeth with one hand.

"Again yes," the curator snapped.

"Why doesn't he like cats?" Rick queried as he looked up at the man curiously. There was no anger to his voice or gaze; frankly he thought the man had a point.

"They are considered the guardians of the underworld," the curator explained.

"Why doesn't he like the dog?" Daniels demanded with a nod in Anu's direction.

Anu let out a moody growl.

"He has a name you know," Jess scolded, "honestly David you can't have forgotten it already."

"David?" Rick queried mockingly as he raised a brown eyebrow and smirked across at the now scowling Daniels. "Is that your name then? And there I was beginning to think you didn't have a first name."

"You know it's my name you ass," Daniels replied sharply.

"Don't call him Dave though," Jonathan perked up cheerfully, "he doesn't like it much."

"Pharaoh Hounds bear a resemblance to Anubis, a god associated with the dead," Ardeth explained, "it stands to reason the creature sees them as guardians of the dead as well, servants to a god who would desire him back in the realm of the dead."

"Hmm, maybe you ain't so bad mutt," Daniels mused, earning another growl in answer.

"He will fear them until he is fully regenerated," the curator continued, "and then he will fear nothing."

Daniels jumped up crossly then and glowered at the curator, despising the man then for belittling their fate so easily. "Right! And ya know how he gets fully regenerated?!" he exclaimed as he paled. "By killing everybody who opened that chest and sucking us dry! That's how!" He trembled slightly in his rage as Burns' death wails repeated through his head.

Henderson remained calm, gun in one hand and pointed up as his gaze flickered from the curator to O'Connell. Rick nodded pointedly at Henderson, his blue eyes darting up to the panic stricken Daniels.

"David sit down, no point yelling," Henderson tried to calm his friend but Daniels just ignored him and remained standing.

"When I saw him in Hamunaptra he called me Anck-su-namun," Evelyn confessed. Her expression tightened as Ardeth and the curator both looked to her in horror, "and then...well then in the fort he tried to kiss me. Who is Anck-su-namun?"

"It is because of his love for Anck-sun-namun that he was cursed," the curator explained. "She was the pharaoh's wife, and apparently, even after three thousand years, he is still in love with her."

"And what has that got to do with me?" Evelyn queried quietly as she feared the answer to her own question. Suddenly the bravado of the scholar was failing her.

The curator and Ardeth exchanged a dark look before the curator replied. "Perhaps he plans to resurrect her too, if so it appears he has already chosen his human sacrifice."

"Bad luck old mum," Jonathan remarked faintly with a shake of his head. He winced when Jess elbowed him in a scolding manner.

"On the contrary," Ardeth spoke up, "it may just give us the time we need to kill the creature."

They all suddenly tensed as the room started to grow dark without warning. Rick, who had been just about to scold Ardeth, and Henderson, both jumped out of their chairs to stand with the others. All their eyes rolled up to the skylight above them to witness the sun turning black as the moon moved across it.

"'And he stretched forth his hands towards the heavens, and there was darkness throughout the land of Egypt.'" It was Jonathan who quoted the verse sombrely.

"He's close," Henderson murmured worriedly as he felt goose bumps bud on his tanned arms as the room seemed to turn cold almost instantaneously.

"Time to get back to the fort," Rick remarked with a brittle calm as he glanced at Evelyn.

"What are you doing? Put that down!" the curator snapped as he drew his stare from the vanishing sun in time to see Jess slinging Seti's quiver over her right shoulder.

"Or what?" she retorted testily as she lifted the bow and started to adjust the string.

"That's ancient!" the curator hissed with a look of horror.

"Still works," she replied happily as she twanged it.

"It belonged to the pharaoh, for the love of Allah, haven't you people learned not to touch ancient property!" he shrieked at her in outrage.

"Oh it did not," Jess sneered as she hopped off the chariot. "A pharaoh's bow would have had some bronze or copper on it and the arrowheads would be a better quality, at best it was a pharaoh's guard but I think more likely it was a hunter's."

"Who are you again?" the curator demanded with an exasperated look.

"She is the curse of Set," Ardeth answered coolly as he looked at the girl calmly.

"Now that's a nice title," Jonathan remarked brightly as he finally stepped off the chariot, "the Curse of Set."

"You can put on my grave," Jess replied dryly as she rolled her eyes in exasperation at the Englishman. "Look, I'm not good with a gun and I'm not staying unarmed, these arrows might not kill our friend but maybe they'll slow him down, either way I feel better."

"And you're good with arrows are you Pocahontas?" Rick queried sarcastically.

"My brother was a prize winning archer," Jess answered proudly, "and he taught me well."

"I suppose you guys have no advice for Set either?" Rick asked as he looked from the curator to Ardeth.

"He will see his will carried out no matter the cost," Ardeth retorted coldly.

"Of course," Rick murmured with a sigh. "Alright, let's go then."

"Well the mummy's quicker acting with his curse," Jonathan commented, "so we probably won't have to worry too much about Set, excepting the ghoul things."

"Ghoul things?" Evelyn quipped as she looked to her brother as if he had gone mad.

"Oh really Jonathan it's not a competition," Jess remarked blithely before Jonathan could reply, "Set might be slow but maybe he's just building to something."

"Really? What's worse than plagues?" Jonathan queried sarcastically.

Rick pointed at him sharply, pressing his fingertip against the Englishman's nose. "Jonathan haven't you learnt not to ask questions like those?" he demanded.

"Yeah Johnny, don't ever ask what's worse," Henderson grumbled. "Now let's get outta here already."

* * *

It was hard to tell the time when the group resettled in the fort, once again in the Americans' large quarters with tea and a fruit bowl to satiate their temporarily forgotten needs for provision. The day had turned to night and everyone was on edge. There were more soldiers stationed at the fort, constantly moving to and fro whilst people gossiped of the eclipse, trying to reassure themselves that it was a natural occurrence and not the end of days.

Evelyn paced back and forth with an apple clutched tightly in both hands whilst Henderson chewed nosily on grapes, pausing to pluck seeds from his mouth. Jonathan, who was seated beside Daniels, tugged out a silver hipflask. Feeling Daniels' dark eyes on him once more, the Englishman reluctantly offered the American a sip. Daniels was swift to take a deep gulp before passing it back.

"We must stop him from regenerating," Evelyn muttered as she paced. She looked frustrated but not fearful yet, confident that despite everything that had happened she would find an answer.

"No shit," Daniels grumbled. His brow was wrinkled with worry lines, gloom filled his indigo eyes and a frown tugged at his lips.

"Who opened that chest?" she demanded as she stopped walking to look at him crossly, deliberately reminding him with her query that he was as much to blame for their predicament as she.

"There was me and Daniels here," Henderson chose to answer her before Daniels could sneer something, "and Burns of course." He sighed and both Americans bowed their heads in a shared moment of grief. "And that Egyptologist fellow," Henderson added quietly as he finally recalled their fled companion.

"What about my buddy Beni?" Rick queried as he entered from the bathroom and walked up to the table Daniels and Jonathan were sitting at.

"No," Daniels answered bluntly as he frowned up at Rick, "he scrammed outta there 'fore we opened the thing." He had the chair turned backwards into the table and was resting with his good arm leaning on the top of the chair's back. His injured arm remained out of his grey jacket's sleeve, limp and still sore against his side.

"Yeah, he was the smart one," Henderson muttered with a shake of his head. He stood behind Daniels, mimicking Evelyn for a moment as he clutched a handful of grapes in both hands. He welcomed the distraction of food, gulping down the fruit as he was afraid that if he stopped eating he might have to consider the mummy hungry for his organs.

"Sounds like Beni," Rick retorted brightly.

"And Jess," Henderson spoke up as he looked suddenly to the woman who was seated on the floor beside her dog, fondly scratching his ears. "You were there when we opened it," he remarked quietly, his voice hoarse with sorrow as he gave her a look of horror mixed with pity.

Evelyn looked to the woman aghast, her sudden worry for Jess clear on her face. "You were there?" she asked in shock.

"Really?" Jonathan marvelled as he looked at Daniels. "You let a thief open the chest with you? You wouldn't even let me deal the cards on the boat!"

Daniels' frown deepened as he shook his head at the Englishman. "You were tryin' to cheat Jonathan, badly," he reminded him frostily.

"She's a thief!" Jonathan complained as he gestured to Jess with one hand. "Honestly Dav...er Daniels, um..." Jonathan swallowed hard as Daniels' eyes seemed to burn through him. "Mr. Daniels," he finally corrected himself, "I...well I'm starting to think you Yankees do have a weakness for Jess." He smiled, proud to have finally finished his accusation.

Henderson let out a mocking snort at this. "She was injured in the cave," he explained, "Burns heard her and insisted on finding her. If it's any defence for Daniels he probably would have left her."

"He should have," Rick murmured sarcastically before he looked to Jess, "and I bet you took from the chest too, didn't you?"

Jess frowned as she stopping scratching Anu to lean onto her knees. "Does it matter now?" she queried frostily. "So I'm part of the organ donation, lucky me. I just need time..." She trailed off with a frown as her eyes shone a little brighter than usual in the candlelight.

"For what?" Rick demanded.

"For the book," Jonathan answered, wilting at the look Jess gave him. "Well it's all out now isn't it?" he remarked gently.

"The Book of the Dead?" Evelyn murmured curiously. "Dr. Chamberlain has it now, doesn't he? We must find him and bring him back to the safety of the fort before the creature can get him!"

"Yeah because it was so safe here for Burns," Daniels grumbled.

"Right, we'll find your Egyptologist friend but she stays here," Rick said as he pointed at Evelyn. "You two come with me," he ordered the Americans. "Jonathan, you can watch your sister."

"You can't leave me behind like some old carpetbag!" Evelyn snapped as she charged over to Rick, glaring furiously as she did. "I'm coming too!" She let out a yell of protest when Rick grabbed her suddenly with both hands and flung her over his right shoulder. "Jonathan help me!" she snapped. "Honestly this is the 1920s you Neanderthal you can't just pick women up like this!"

"Is that an American thing?" Jess quipped dryly as she looked at Daniels pointedly, recalling out he had plucked her up on the boat in a similar fashion just to throw her overboard.

"Is it a woman thing to be difficult?" Daniels retorted moodily.

Rick carried Evelyn kicking and screaming into Burns' former bedroom and deposited her there on top of the bed like an old coat before hastening out of the room, pulling the doors closed behind him as he did. As he did he rolled his eyes as Evelyn chased after him with several curses.

"Jonathan!" Evelyn yelled as she failed to reach the doors in time.

"Sorry Evie!" Jonathan retorted cheerfully. "He's er...well a little too tall for me."

"Traitor! Coward!" she snapped as her fists pounded against the double doors as Rick locked them.

"The hell with your plan!" Henderson snapped to Rick as he gestured to the door. "I ain't going out there to face that thing!"

"No concern for your former friend then?" Rick queried tauntingly.

"He ain't no friend of mine and he made his choice to leave," Henderson snapped, almost hysterically. "I ain't going after him, I ain't doing it!"

Daniels, who had stood in the commotion, rising at the same time as Jess, moved towards the blonde woman and gave her a stern look. "Neither are we," he said firmly.

"Do you speak for me now?" Jess retorted hotly as she folded her arms and glared up at him.

"You just want that book," he answered as his scowl deepened.

"And? What does it matter if it gets Chamberlain here safely?"

"No point locking her up," Rick pointed out, "she'll just pick the lock." He gave her a sweet smile when she frowned over at him.

"Yes locking up Evelyn was most charming of you," Jess retorted dryly.

"It's for her own good," he replied heatedly.

Jess flinched when Daniels grabbed her right wrist suddenly in a tight grip, pulling it free from her other arm. "I can't lock you up," he muttered, "but I can keep a hold of you until they come back with that stupid Chamberlain." He nodded at Jonathan and Rick.

"They?" Jonathan echoed nervously. "Er...I thought I was the one who was staying?"

"Look I'll tell you where to go," Henderson offered, "he's got an office in town, it's above a glassmaker's shop to the right of the bazaar but that's all I know, man made his choice, we all made our choice," he added with a look of woe. The blonde remained back against the wall as if fearful of being dragged out the door.

"You can't seriously think you're going to just hold me here!" Jess snapped with an incredulous look.

"If you're going to be an idiot then yeah, I can and will, and Henry will help me keep an eye on you," Daniels answered sternly, raising his voice to be audible over Evelyn's yells.

"I will," Henderson agreed as he looked at Jess pleadingly, "it ain't safe out there Miss Jess, it ain't safe here either but it's better than out there, and you're marked just like us, better we're together."

"Fine," Jess gave in to the blonde's concerned stare, "but let go of my arm."

Daniels complied and the woman stepped away from him with a glower. It gave Rick the chance to move in and seize Daniels by his collar without warning. Rick leaned close to the startled man and pointed to the doors Evelyn was banging at. "Those doors don't open, she doesn't come out and no one goes in, right?"

"Right," Daniels answered weakly as Rick put pressure on his windpipe.

Rick turned to face Henderson, his grip still tight on Daniels. "Right?" he repeated in a dangerous tone.

"Right," Henderson answered as his gaze flickered from Daniels to Rick.

Rick released Daniels at last. "Come on then Jonathan," he said chirpily as he strode towards the doors.

"O'Connell!" Evelyn yelled. "Let me out!"

"I thought I could just stay at the fort," Jonathan babbled with a nervous smile, "and uh...reconnoitre."

"Now!" Rick snapped as he swung open the door and walked out.

"Right," Jonathan mumbled, "rescue the Egyptologist."


	14. Chapter 14- A Cowboy's Last Stand

Daniels flung open the double windows and leaned out them with a cross look. They were all on edge and it angered him, he wasn't a man who felt fear often and when it crept up on him he swiftly became angry with himself for giving in to such a weak emotion. Images of Bethany flickered through his mind and he cursed quietly into the cool night air. Despite the low temperature the room felt stuffy, constraining even and he was anxious to feel some relief from it.

Henderson sat in a chair twisting his falcon headed prize about one hand whilst puffing on a cigarette with the other. "Hardly seems worth it now, does it?" he queried darkly as he eyed the gilded treasure with scorn.

Daniels gave his friend a look of annoyance as he refused to answer. Jess, who was now standing beside the doors that held Evelyn, fidgeted in her pockets, her fingertips brushing against the shards of the broken lion headed canopic jar she had taken in a foolish moment of greed. 'Why couldn't I leave it alone?' she thought, furious at herself. 'I've put a time limit on everything now, even if O'Connell and Jonathan get the book I could be sucked dry before I can do anything with it!'

The electric lights buzzed faintly, flickering out for a second causing everyone to tense and glance about nervously.

"I'm getting so tired of this shit," Henderson grumbled before taking another deep draw from his cigarette. "I just wanted some fun, after all the grief we'd suffered, Katie dead just a few months ago and her only turned sixteen and Bethany..." He glanced at Daniels out of the corner of his eye. "What happened to her was beyond understanding David, it was madness, and Bernie and I just wanted to get you away from all that insanity before it took you." He turned his head to Daniels fully then, his warm, sea blue eyes sparkling with guilt and fear. "Shit David I'm sorry, I just led you to a different madness didn't I? Now Bernie's gone and hell, we're next aren't we?" He glanced down at himself and shook his head with a bitter laugh. "Is this how I'm going out, in these dusty, sweat stained rags and not even a cigar or drink to hand?"

"Henry quit talking like that," Daniels scorned him. He was now pacing the room like a caged animal, his uneasy gaze darting from Henderson to Jess.

"We'll figure it out," Jess piped up as she stood off the wall and walked up to them, coming to a halt near Henderson. Anu moved with her, coming to a halt on Henderson's left side between the chair and his mistress.

The blonde abandoned his jar to his lap to stroke the dog's back. He felt a little soothed as he rubbed the dog's soft, black coat, cracking a small smile when the dog's tail started wagging. "Even if we do there's no bringing back Bernie," he grumbled morosely. He finally stubbed out his cigarette in an ash tray on a table to his right.

"Maybe," Jess murmured cryptically.

Daniels and Henderson both looked to the woman sharply. "What's that supposed to mean?" Henderson queried suspiciously. His expression turned thoughtful and he murmured, "we always wondered what you were doing out in that hellhole. Bernie and I talked about it, had to do with your family obviously, he worried a lot about it. Don't think he knew you took from the chest mind, probably for the best, poor bastard was already afraid whatever your plans were would get ruined simply by association with us."

Jess turned pale and frowned as she folded her arms and pointedly looked ahead, avoiding Henderson's prying stare.

"It's that wretched book," Daniels spat as he stared at the woman accusingly. "It's evil; don't know why you think it could do you any good."

"Haven't you learned that you're not an expert on Egyptian artefacts yet?!" Jess snapped at him with a glower. "You don't know anything about that book! It has the power to bring them back!" She froze up, her eyes going wide as she realised what she had let slip out.

Henderson looked up at her in dumb shock whilst Daniels' sapphire stare filled with surprise before the rage bled into it. "As what?!" he yelled back at her, extending out his good arm in a gesture of anger as he did. "Mummies? Ghouls?! Haven't you seen firsthand how that's not a good idea!"

"No," Jess protested, "you don't understand, the Book of the Dead gives life back. There are rules about it and ways of doing it-"

"Yeah like sacrificing someone's organs!" Daniels interrupted her. "Are you bloody stupid?!"

"David," Henderson interrupted as he looked at his friend chidingly.

"What?!" Daniels snapped at his companion. "Listen to her Henry; she's talking about raising the dead for Christ's sake! Has that been your master plan this whole time?" he snarled as he glared at Jess once more.

"David she lost her family in a horrible fashion, you know a little of what that's like," Henderson reminded him calmly. "Look her in the eye and swear you wouldn't do the same if you thought it was feasible." The blonde was actually doing the unthinkable and considering Jess' alleged plan. 'Well the book raised a thousand year old mummy,' he thought grimly. 'What if it could bring back Bernie?'

"I wouldn't after seeing the walking, talking corpse of someone I loved," Daniels retorted hotly as he paled at the reminder his own words conjured.

Jess shook her head at him angrily even as the tears burned down her eyes. She then dug her fingers through her scalp and choked out, "it wasn't them, you know it wasn't really them. It wouldn't be like that, it wouldn't, there are a hundred spells in that book, and you can bring them back, properly. Evelyn read the wrong spell but the right one is in there, no ghouls or mummies, just them, the way they were, the way they should be..."

"What do you mean it wasn't really them?" Henderson questioned as he turned his head from Jess to Daniels. "What does she mean David?"

Daniels let out another curse. "You know what, I don't know everything about that book," Daniels grumbled as he deliberately evaded Henderson's question, "but what I know of it ain't good. I'm sorry you lost your family the way you did and that you've been alone but..." He trailed off, unwilling to wound the woman any further.

The dark haired man turned away from the pair and cursed once more. "To hell with this, I need a drink, and you probably need one too," he added as he looked back at Jess. He then glanced down at Henderson. "You want anything?"

Henderson looked at his friend in shock, paling at the thought of being left alone. He was ready to stand up and insist on going before remembering that they were meant to be guarding someone. 'Broad is locked in there,' he reminded himself, 'if something were to happen she'd be trapped. I can't leave her defenceless like that.'

"Yeah. Yeah get me a glass of bourbon," he decided. The lights flickered a couple of times again prompting Daniels to edge towards the door. "A-And a shot of bourbon!" Henderson snapped as his eyes darted to the door desperately.

"Yeah okay, okay," Daniels grumbled impatiently as he looked Jess' way. He opened the door and quipped bluntly, "you comin'?"

"Do you want me or Anu to stay?" Jess offered as she looked at Henderson questioningly. She liked the blonde, he reminded her a little of her late brother Lorcan, the would be cowboy. It wasn't just the cowboy hat, the spurred boots and the boot dusters but Henderson's kind attitude towards her. For all his suspicions of her he had still looked out for her in his way, giving her his vest to wear during her period of fever, matching pace with her when the same fever and a burned leg had laboured her steps and buying her a ticket for a boat to Alexandria that had never showed.

Henderson just waved her off with his left hand. "Nah, I got Evelyn for company, just... don't take long."

Jess nodded solemnly as she saw the fear burning in the man's eyes whilst Daniels noticeably tensed, Henderson's words sounded just a little too close to Burns' before Daniels and Henderson had abandoned him for a bar, leaving him to the mercy of the mummy. Daniels swallowed hard as his throat turned dry at the reminder her and for a moment he hesitated. 'Henderson's got his sight and he's a great shot,' he reminded himself, 'and that woman is here it's not like we're leaving him alone and defenceless.'

"And be nice to her Daniels," the blonde added as he wagged his finger at his friend warningly.

Daniels just shook his head before looking to Jess impatiently. "Sooner we go, sooner we can get the bourbon," he muttered.

Jess headed out at last with Anu close on her heels. She felt the same suffocation in the room that Daniels did and was eager for a reprieve from it.

Daniels glanced back at Henderson once more and murmured, "I'll not take long Henry."

"I believe you David," Henderson retorted with a small, reassuring smile. "Now hurry up and get me a bourbon I'm getting a real itch for a drink."

Daniels nodded and headed out into the hall at last.

"And get me a bourbon chaser!" Henderson called after him as he stood up.

"I'll get your damn bourbon!" Daniels shouted angrily with a roll of his eyes as he charged up the corridor with Jess.

"Don't worry about the door," Henderson grumbled sarcastically as he stepped up to it and slammed it shut.

Daniels headed down the corridor with Jess and Anu, and then down a flight of stairs. The lights flickered as they walked before blinking out when they reached the floor below. Jess halted as for a brief minute there was darkness. She peered ahead into the sudden gloom with a moment of uncertainty.

The lights started to flicker again, going on and off in the space of a few seconds. Jess felt her blood run cold as she was certain there were figures just ahead of her in the dark corridor, shadowy shapes that came and went with the blinking of the lights. She swallowed hard, wishing that she had not left the bow and arrows behind, and counted the gaps in her head. Four seconds each time. The forms appeared in the gloom of the corridor but there wasn't enough time for her to properly make them out or even determine if they were really there.

She knew there couldn't be anyone there, she hadn't seen anyone when they had arrived in the corridor and she couldn't hear anyone, there were no footsteps or voices. When Anu gave a low growl she found herself taking a step back.

The lights flickered off again. One. Two. Three. Four seconds of darkness crawled by, each one marked by a frantic heartbeat in her chest. She staggered back with a gasp of alarm when three of the forms suddenly appeared within inches of her faces. She saw them for just a couple of seconds but it was enough, though rotting, bloody and distorted she still recognised them as three of her brothers.

Daniels tugged out his gun in alarm when the lights came on and stayed on, banishing the shadows of the corridor. "What the hell was that?" the man demanded hoarsely. He peered ahead to a blue carpeted corridor, perfectly ordinary and void of all life save theirs. The bulbs hummed steadily behind frosted glass casting a soothing golden glow about the hall and the American thought that if he didn't know better from experience he might have considered it all a trick of the light.

Jess just shook her head as she stared ahead half expecting the forms to reappear. "I think I need that drink now," she muttered before she started walking again.

They picked up their pace, almost running through the corridor and down the next flight of stairs. Both of them were relieved to enter the bar, which was busy enough to offer them a sense of safety. Even though they both knew that crowds probably meant little to their ancient foes at this point they were still willing to take solace in the people anyway. There was music playing as soldiers mingled with veiled women and barmen rushed to and fro with jugs laden with wine. At a first glance it was as if there hadn't been a series of unusual and horrifying events at the fort but if one cared to study the scene as Jess did they would notice more guards than usual, religious relics dusted off and more prominently on display, beverages closely inspected each time before they were drunk and eyes constantly darting to shutters purposely closed to hide the outside world.

Daniels led the way to the bar and was quick to order two shots of bourbon, pushing a glass to Jess when they were served.

Jess gulped it down hastily, shaking her head as it burned down her throat before welcoming a second shot as she sat on a black stool.

Daniels grasped at the bottle when the barman went to take it away. Seeing the seriousness of the man's indigo stare, the barman released the bottle with a shrug and headed off to attend other customers.

"I didn't mean to call you stupid," Daniels confessed grudgingly as he rested one arm on the bar and cradled his third shot in his right hand, trying to ignore the pain that seeped up his still injured arm. The Texan was beginning to fear he was going to have to use his wounded arm again for shooting, two guns was better than one after all but if he kept it up it might never heal right.

Jess nodded. "It's alright," she murmured stiffly as she pushed back a strand of her golden-brown hair and bowed her head. "I know how it sounds I just...I want them back so badly," she choked out the words as the tears suddenly poured down her cheeks anew.

Daniels swallowed the third shot briskly, slammed the glass down and then turned to face the woman, scrutinising her with a grave stare. He sighed and tentatively reached out to her with his good arm, putting it over her shoulders lightly. "I know that jackal," he said quietly, "but I don't know that the book is gonna do that for you, at least not in the way you want."

"My brother Corbin took twelve hours to die, he just kept bleeding and bleeding and I couldn't do anything about it. We had to hide, I wanted to get him help, I should have tried!" She was babbling now as her grief finally escaped from her.

"Jess I don't know all the details," Daniels said arduously, adding to himself, 'and I sure as hell don't want to' before saying, "but I know you, you're a stubborn, determined woman, if there was something to be done you'd have done it."

She shook her head. "I didn't, I was too afraid he'd get me too. Corbin was only twenty and not even married, it's all he wanted you know, a nice family, and he didn't get the chance. He deserved that chance; they all did so I have to find a way to make it happen, to undo it." She leaned into Daniels slightly and glanced up at him with a serious stare. "I know it's hard to understand after everything that's happened and I don't expect you to but I need that book, and I have to be right about it, I must be, otherwise why would Set be trying to stop me from getting it?"

"Well one thing at a time," Daniels grumbled as he poured them both a new shot, "how about we sort out this mummy business first and then deal with the book?"

"What's the we business?" she quipped with a look of surprise as she accepted the glass he pressed into her. "Aren't you hopping on a boat back to America first chance you get?"

Daniels sighed heavily as he thought of what Henderson had said about Jess' 'dopey look' and how Bernie had noticed it. He hadn't given it much thought; it was a bit hard to in these circumstances but he wondered grimly if he was ever going to get the time to really think about it. 'Does it matter?' he wondered. 'I am going back to America, the sooner I get out of this messed up country the better.' He realised though that he couldn't just leave Jess alone in Egypt with her business half-finished and no one to help her, whether it was helping her find a way to deal with Set's curse or to find some closure Daniels wasn't sure but he thought that he'd like to help out. He gulped down his fourth shot hastily before contemplating his answer.

"You want to see the Wild West," he reminded her, "or what's left of it anyway. How about we come to a compromise? You, me and Henderson survive this shit together and then the three of us can take the book to Texas and look at it there without having to worry about mummies or some other Egyptian shit, deal?"

Jess gave Daniels a small smile and he saw a spark of happiness flicker through her amber-brown eyes as she nodded before downing her own shot and setting the glass back on the table.

"Hmm Henry's right, you do have a dopey look don't cha?" he quipped teasingly. He let out a curse as she elbowed him sharply in the stomach in retort before he laughed as her cheeks turned pink. It was a brief laugh and it felt strange to the man but he liked it, sure he felt guilty for it given the circumstances but damn how good was it to feel some small measure of happiness still?

"We should get back to Mr. Henderson," Jess murmured quietly. She flinched when Daniels pressed his lips against hers briefly. She tasted tobacco and whiskey and felt her stomach turn slightly as she filled with shock. The gesture had come out of nowhere and ended as quickly as it had begun.

"We should do that," Daniels murmured against her before he pulled back again. "Better not forget his bourbon," he added before turning back to the bar, deliberately avoiding Jess' puzzled stare, and waving to the tender.

* * *

Henry paced the room restlessly playing with his gun as he did. He twirled his Colt SAA about his right hand in an attempt to reassure himself of his skills with it. Back home he had won prizes for his quick shooting, it had made him feel invincible but right now those ribbons seemed liked a lifetime ago and he wasn't sure an undead monster would care much about his silver and gold trophies. He gave a bitter smile as he recalled one of the rare times he had been beaten in a shooting contest. He had been beaten by a wannabe city boy who wore glasses, who the hell would have thought it? He shook his head as he recalled Bernard Burns' quiet confidence and modest show of pride when he had taken the $25 prize money and a small silver cup, and the seemingly endless teasing Henderson had endured from Daniels after for losing to a 'book boy'. That was Bernie all over of course, a shy and awkward man who was full of hidden talent.

The blonde glanced at the doors to Evelyn's room warily; there hadn't been a peep out of her for over an hour now. Daniels and Jess had been gone fifteen minutes and the silence was starting to unnerve Henderson to the point that he actually wished Evelyn would start her wailing again. He wondered as he continued to turn his gun over in his hand if Daniels and Jess were having an argument, a moment of uncomfortable silence or actually getting along. He could imagine his dark haired friend's temper only being inflamed by the shots he was probably drinking and him berating Jess further for her desires to bring back her family with an ancient spell book. He supposed Jess wasn't really the type to take Daniels' crap, strange in fact that she should actually like his stubborn, antisocial friend. The cowboy hadn't even picked up on that until Burns had mentioned it to him as they had arrived back to Cairo. He had thought it was probably one sided, but now he wondered, Daniels had shown a smidgen of consolation to the woman during her fever out in the wilderness after all and he had let her wear that stupid hat of his.

Henderson tensed as a breeze blew through the window. "Bloody Daniels," he grumbled as he frowned at it, "man was raised in a barn, leaving windows and doors open everywhere." As if he wasn't already on edge without having the wind to make him jump. 'He'd better hurry with that drink,' he thought anxiously as he glanced towards the main door.

He just wanted this to all be over; of course there would be no forgetting it. No matter how much time passed he knew he would never forget Burns' gut retching screams as the life had been sucked right out of him. He felt his blood run cold and a shudder ran through him. He turned towards the window accusingly then and told himself it was just the icy breeze creeping through it. 'This country just keeps giving,' he thought sardonically, 'ancient booby traps, resurrected mummies, and weird weather.'

He turned sharply, drawing his gun fast on the canopic jar resting harmlessly on the chair. He cracked a tight grin, satisfied with his swift reactions. Maybe he still had a fighting chance, all he and Daniels had to do was get on a boat for home, let Evelyn and O'Connell sort out sending the mummy back to Egyptian hell, the woman was the one who'd resurrected it after all, it was her fault. He didn't know where exactly Jess fit into that scenario, he hoped she would be on the boat with him and Daniels but he wasn't so sure.

The wind came again but when Henderson looked to the window, this time ready to close it, the colour drained from his face as he saw the sandy breeze form into a man sized tornado within the room before taking the very real and familiar form of a half-rotted mummy.

BANG! BANG! The blonde let off several shots without thinking. His blue eyes darted hesitantly towards the doors as the mummy glowered back at him with Burns' eyes. He could make it; he was only a couple of steps away but... 'Can't leave the woman!' he thought as he moved towards the doors to Burns' bedroom, purposely putting himself in front of them. His heart was beating hard against his chest as the adrenaline rushed through him, he was too pumped to be scared and if he had time to think on it he might have been grateful for that.

BANG! BANG! He knew he would have to reload in a second but it hardly mattered, his bullets were barely delaying the creature.

The mummy's shoulders jerked back with each bullet that hit it but it still managed to advance towards Henderson, Burns' eyes flickering towards the falcon headed canopic jar accusingly.

"That what you want?!" Henderson growled at it, his voice steady and bold. "Take it then you ugly bastard!"

BANG!

Henderson's very last bullet sank straight into the mummy's skull with a satisfying crack as it caused the flesh to rip back with the force creating an impressive hole. The cowboy felt a thrill of pride thinking briefly that even Bernie couldn't have made a shot like that. 'Gotta keep the woman safe,' he thought numbly as his eyes darted to the main door once more. 'Where is everyone? Shit I need to stall, if it gives them time to get here that's all that counts.'

The mummy turned about again, twisting itself back into a tornado that stretched out to the defiant Henderson and sucked him up in its grasp. The blonde fought back as valiantly as he could, kicking and squirming in a vain attempt to escape as he was pulled up into the air. He let out a howl of agony as he felt his life force ebbing away, pulled out violently with his blood and flesh as he was drained of all that he was. It was like nails were being dragged over every inch of him and acid was running through his veins burning out his blood, every fibre of his being felt only pain and all he could do was scream and wish for it to be at an end.

As the wind resumed the form of Imhotep, now more flesh than bone, Henderson's dried husk hit the ground with a noisy bang. The almost reformed mummy stepped over it like it was trash as he headed to the seat and lifted up the falcon headed jar. As he pocketed the canopic jar he turned suddenly to the doors the blonde had so feebly attempted to guard and he approached them with intrigue.

She was there, he sensed her as a cat sensed a mouse in the wall. His right hand, now only bearing one telltale, rotted hole, reached out to grasp the handle and turn it but he found the door locked. He could break it down but he did not want to disturb or frighten her unnecessarily, strange that all the commotion had not. So he leaned down to the keyhole and performed a new, disturbing feat.

In Burns' room there suddenly came the soft sound of tiny grains of golden sand pouring through the lock and steadily piling on the floor. On Burns' former bed Evelyn tossed and turned on top of the sheets, clenching her hands tightly and groaning as the sound of gunfire entered her deep slumber and disturbed her dreams. So caught was she in her nightmares of her own parents being chased by a shambling mummy with the eyes of a man only briefly known, a man who howled at her from the shadows with a tongueless mouth, that even the death knells of Henderson had not been enough to awaken her.

So Evelyn lay, a sleeping beauty awaiting a prince and instead receiving a dead priest who was seeking a very different princess. The sand was starting to pile up now, almost the height of a man as the specks shifted and blurred together to reform Imhotep. Once he was finally formed he strode towards the bed quickly, his sandaled feet barely making a sound. He gazed down at Evelyn with a look of obsession burning in his stolen eyes. She was beautiful, a worthy sacrifice he supposed, perhaps even in another life... He leaned down towards her slowly as he sought to satisfy a longing that had been dormant for hundreds of years.

Evelyn's eyes opened as she felt lips upon her, forceful and rough with an imposing tongue. Her eyes went wide as they locked with the horror upon her and she instinctively screamed just as O'Connell kicked in the door.

"Hey, get your ugly face off her!" Rick snapped dramatically.

The mummy drew upright with a hiss of rage and turned towards O'Connell deliberately, ready to strike him down in an instant.

"Look what I got!" Rick cried out triumphantly as he raised Evelyn's unimpressed looking cat Cleo in both hands.

The mummy let out a very real shriek of horror before turning in a whirlwind and crashing out the bedroom window dramatically, taking the shutters out with it.

Evelyn let out a gasp as she pushed herself upright and looking to the broken window in horror before turning to Rick and her brother, who had been delayed looking at Henderson's corpse.

"Are you alright?" Rick quipped as he dropped the scowling cat and hastened to Evelyn with a deep look of concern.

"Well, I'm not sure," she murmured as she pressed one hand against her tangled curls with a look of bewilderment. She stood up from the bed, blushing faintly as Rick rested his hands on her shoulders and gave them a gentle squeeze. "Where are Jess and the others?" Evelyn asked with a look of worry.

"Well Jess and Daniels appear to have scarpered," Rick grumbled, "and Henderson..." He paused and glanced over his shoulder to where the corpse lay, one withered foot visible behind Jonathan.

"Our friend got him," Jonathan confessed grimly. The Englishman had turned an odd shade of grey and his cheeks bulged slightly as he resisted the urge to vomit. The main room reeked of decay and the sight of Henderson was more than he could stomach.

"Oh no," Evelyn murmured as she shrugged off Rick's grasp.

There was a loud shattering sound followed by a curse and a cry as Daniels dropped the bottle of bourbon he was carrying in horror. The Texan's face turned chalk white as he raised a hand dumbly in the direction of his friend and stumbled a couple of steps forward before freezing up. "Oh God Henry, it can't..." He shook his head wordlessly.

Jess raised a hand to her mouth as new tears burned at her eyes and threatened to dampen her cheeks. "No," she babbled out, "no more! There aren't meant to be anymore!" She dropped her hand and let out a shriek of anger.

Rick and Evelyn emerged from the room then and Rick was quick to pounce at Daniels, once more grabbing him tightly about the throat, this time with both hands. "And where the hell were you? I told you to mind her!" He shook the man hard as he pressed his face close to him. "Let me guess," he sneered, "you were at the bar again. Well I hope you enjoyed the whiskey while your friend got the life sucked out of him!"

Daniels, who had been numb with shock, came back to his senses at O'Connell's last words. His dark blue eyes filled with rage and he reached to grab O'Connell's hands with both of his own, pushing them down and freeing himself. "To hell with you! You left O'Connell!"

"Yeah for your former companion who you were too cowardly to go after!" Rick reminded him hotly.

"He made his choice," Daniels grumbled as he rubbed at his throat with one hand.

"And you made yours Daniels! You were meant to be minding Evelyn!"

"Ah too hell with her too!" Daniels spat with a vicious look thrown in Evelyn's look. "She's the one read from that damn book and started this mess, far as I'm concerned the mummy can have her."

O'Connell swung hard but Daniels narrowly dodged the blow. In a moment the men found themselves in a scuffle as they tackled each other, each grasping at the other's shoulders and pushing back. Rick jerked free first and kneed Daniels in the stomach. The Texan doubled over with a gasp as the wind rushed out of him before he scowled and punched Rick in the ribs in response.

"Oh for goodness sake," Evelyn grumbled with a roll of her eyes as she folded her arms and looked at the men scolding. She had felt a surge of guilt at Daniels' accusations, whilst she didn't appreciate his choice of words she couldn't help but agree with him that she had indeed started this mess.

Daniels let out a howl of pain when Rick punched him hard in the still healing bullet hole in Daniels' left arm. Daniels stumbled back as he clutched at his arm and yelled, "you dirty bastard! You crooked, cheating bastard!" There were tears budding at the corners of his own eyes now as they fell briefly on the grey husk that had, just minutes ago, been one of his closest friends.

Jess moved to Daniels, reaching out to his injured arm. He instinctively went to push her off, catching her in the chest with his free arm and using more force than intended. The blonde stumbled back with the blow and Daniels found himself looking at her in alarm. "Fuck!" he cursed loudly. He turned and repeated it again and again, pacing across the room as he did and kicking out a table leg and a chair. He finally paused and burrowed his right hand in his dark hair before letting out a groan of despair. "I'm next," he moaned, "I'm next."

"No you're not," Rick spoke up confidently as he looked at the man with a hint of pity, "none of us are next because we're going to put our mutual friend back in his grave." He knew he'd overreacted, Daniels had just lost another close companion after all, and one couldn't really blame the man for having the beginning of a breakdown.

Jess moved to the Texan again, the time a little more cautiously. She reached out a hand to him slowly, brushing her fingertips lightly against the sleeve of his good arm. "I'm still in this with you," she reminded him quietly.

Daniels shook his head at her miserably. "By God I wish you weren't," he muttered.


	15. Chapter 15- Going out Shooting

Rick kept shooting glances at Evelyn as they rode in Jonathan's cream convertible through the dark streets of Cairo. It had taken a couple of hours to form some sort of plan but Evelyn had done it. Rick couldn't help but admire the woman's seemingly endless resolve and impressive intelligence. He could even admit, if only to himself, that part of him was actually glad to have gone back to Hamunaptra if only because it meant meeting Evelyn and sharing this adventure with her.

It was Jonathan who has briskly organised the disposal of Henderson's remains, once more offering a few trusted souls a high payment for a subtle but honourable burial. They had not stayed to see it happen of course, that would take too much time, and time was something none of them had anymore. Jonathan had then urged the pallid and cursing Daniels to stick with them but unsurprisingly it had been Jess who had swayed his decision, reminding the American that so long as they were still alive they had a chance.

Jess had been reluctant to stick with Rick and Jonathan after learning of their failure to save Dr. Chamberlain and secure the Book of the Dead. She had cursed at Jonathan several times upon learning of that, ignoring the Englishman's babbled apologies and protests that it had been about timing not bravery. It was only when Rick had scorned her and reminded her that two men had died and that their lives were surely more important than a book that Jess had fallen silent on the matter. After considering their options she had decided that staying with O'Connell and the others was her best chance for survival and getting the book.

"Thank you for saving me again," Evelyn piped up as she caught one of Rick's lingering, concerned stares. She was seated between him and her brother at the front of the car, pointing out startled pedestrians every so often to her brother with a wary wave of her hand.

"Well I couldn't let you get kissed to death now could I?" Rick joked back.

Evelyn pulled a face at this before retorting sullenly, "I think you were jealous."

"Jealous?" Rick sneered. "Are you kidding me? Did you see that face? I don't think a gooey thousand year old mummy has anything on my charm."

Daniels' eyes widened in disbelief at Evelyn and Rick actually thinking that now was the time to joke around about their feelings for each other. "SHUT UP!" he bellowed at them angrily as he leaned forward and gripped the back of the leather seats with both hands. "JUST SHUT UP! We gotta do something, we gotta do something!" he snapped frantically as the whites of his eyes showed. "Before it's too late!"

Rick glanced over his shoulder to give the final tomb raider a look of displeasure. "Daniels you screaming about it isn't going to do much of anything, is it now?"

Jess, who was seated in the back beside Daniels, now armed with her stolen bow and quiver, squeezed his right arm gently. She then slipped her fingers into his sweaty palm and eased his hand off the back of the seat. "We are doing something," she reminded him when he looked at her.

Jonathan's car finally screeched into the driveway of the Museum of Antiquities and they were quick to leap out and hasten into the museum. It was at the entrance that they met the curator and Ardeth Bay, both standing as if they had been expecting the panicked party.

Evelyn gave the pair a brief nod of greeting as she entered the building before she hurried up the stone steps ahead of everyone, her hazel eyes gleaming with excitement. "Last month I came across an inscription mentioning the Book of the Dead," Evelyn explained as they ran.

"That damn book," Daniels cursed, "I wish we'd never found the thing."

"Anyway," Evelyn continued, "I dismissed it because it mentioned bringing people back from the dead, a notion I was unwilling to believe in." She flushed slightly feeling Rick's sardonic stare on her back.

"Believe it sister, that's what brought our buddy back to life," Rick chimed up.

"And now he's going to use it to bring his girlfriend back, right?" Jonathan queried as he glanced from Ardeth to the curator.

"Because you let him get it," Jess reminded him snidely as she glowered at Jonathan's back.

"And if he succeeds the two of them together will bring about the apocalypse," Ardeth remarked grimly.

"When he resurrects Anck-su-namun he will be truly invincible," the curator continued as they finally reached the top of stairs.

There wooden and glass cabinets of artefacts and books stood, whilst stone tablets and tattered scrolls hung on the walls between them. It was a long, thin room, more of a balcony than a room even, designed for the private usage of the museum workers and not tourists. Evelyn immediately started hunting frantically amongst the ancient treasures, yanking open cabinets and shoving objects out of the way as if they were worthless. "I'm thinking that if the black Book of the Dead can restore life-" she began.

"The gold book of Amun Ra can return them to the underworld," the curator realised her plan with an eager gleam in his brown eyes.

"Exactly," she concluded with a faint smile. "Oh now where did I see it? Was it on a vase? A scroll?" she queried with a look of frustration.

"So you're sayin' if we find the golden book we can send this guy back to Egyptian hell?" Rick surmised.

"That's the myth," the curator admitted.

There was a loud crash from outside and several loud moans called through the windows. The group rushed as one to the large, hexagonal window that looked down onto the dark streets of the city. There was a crowd forming down there and it was shambling towards the museum as if everyone in it was driven by the same purpose. The throng glanced up at the window, their horrid faces illuminated by the torches some of them carried. All of them bore pus leaking, bloody boils and welts on their faces.

"Imhotep! Imhotep! Imhotep!" they chanted the mummy's name over and over again like it was sacred.

"My favourite plague," Jonathan remarked grimly as he winced at the sight, "boils and sores."

"They have become his slaves," Ardeth commented icily as he eyed the crowds warily.

"So it has begun," the curator commented shakily, "the beginning of the end."

"Not yet," Rick insisted, "come on Evelyn!"

The woman turned from the window and resumed her purpose, pouncing upon a large, black, stone slab with gold engravings. "According to the Bembridge scholars the golden book of Amun Ra is located at the foot of Anubis," she murmured.

"That's where we found the black book!" Daniels protested. He reached for his Colt nervously as a loud pounding came at the doors downstairs.

"Exactly, they mixed the books up!" Evelyn retorted, a sly grin appearing on her fair face as she couldn't help but feel satisfied to find that the Bembridge scholars weren't as perfect as they thought.

"So if the black book is at the base of Anubis then the gold book must be..." She paused as her fingertip brushed over the ancient inscriptions.

"Now is not the time for your English grandstanding," Daniels complained with a wretched look.

"Come on Evy, faster," Jonathan urged as he glanced over his shoulder anxiously as the banging grew louder.

"Patience is a virtue," Evelyn chided them.

"Not right now it isn't," Rick snapped as he tugged out both his guns and turned to face the stairs.

"Uh I think I'll go get the car started," Jonathan decided as the chanting became louder.

"Can you make it?" Rick demanded.

"I think I'll have to chaps," Jonathan retorted with forced bravado as he gave a faint smile.

"I'll go with you," Jess offered as she readied the bow.

Daniels gave the woman a pain stricken look and for a moment she thought she spied the concern there before it was swallowed up by his fear.

"Let's go then," Jonathan insisted.

Daniels moved to Jess then before she darted off though it was clear he didn't know what to say. Part of him wanted to protest or offer to go but time was of the essence and whilst Jonathan needed help Evelyn needed protected while she read the inscription.

"I'll see you in a moment," Jess assured the raven haired male with a fleeting smile.

"Damn it jackal you'd better," he retorted sternly.

Seeing that Jonathan had already started to move, Jess hastened after him. Jonathan led them downstairs briskly and out through a side door before they hastened round to the front and stumbled into a crowd of possessed townsmen.

The pair exchanged a look of alarm before a spark of genius or madness struck Jonathan and he hissed, "play along!" He thrust his arms out before him, hands limp, and started shuffling slowly chanting, "Imhotep. Imhotep."

Jess looked at the man as if he had lost his mind before she felt a few hostile stares upon her. She immediately slung the bow over her shoulder and copied Jonathan. She felt a cold sweat trickle down her skin as she was certain they wouldn't be fooled and she and Jonathan were going to be killed in a horrible fashion.

It seemed to take forever but miraculously the crowds passed them by leaving them free to drop their charade and rush for the car. Only a minute later they heard footsteps ringing out loudly on the stone path as Daniels came sprinting towards them with the others close behind.

"Let's go! Let's go!" the Texan shouted. "Get this thing in gear boy!" He sprang into the back beside Jess as the motor finally purred to life. His wild, frightened gaze met her reassuring mahogany-gold stare and he filled with relief to see her still safe.

Jess moved swiftly towards the man as the others joined them, stunning him with a quick, brief kiss. It was soft like a feather brushing against him and he barely tasted it, it was too fast for him to form any opinion of it and distracted him from his fear for only a couple of seconds.

"Had to take the chance while I still had it," she said softly to her lap as she bowed her head towards it as her cheeks turned rosy.

Rick and Evelyn resumed their position in the front as Ardeth and the curator clambered into the middle just as Beni rushed down the steps of the museum, eyeing them with hate. "IMHOTEP!" the Hungarian yelled. "IMHOTEP!"

Daniels' eyes rolled up to the shattered window they had gazed from just minutes ago and there he saw his death in the form of an immortal man who glared at him with the eyes of his own friend.

"You're gonna get yours Beni!" Rick shouted angrily as the car started to move.

"Oh like I never heard that before!" Beni spat back mockingly.

Jess rose from her seat in a moment of blinding hatred, swinging round the bow and tugging out an arrow with lightning speed. She aimed well but unfortunately the car rolled over a bump as she fired the arrow. Daniels let out a grunt of protest as the bow knocked off his head but when he heard Beni's wail of pain he felt a mild satisfaction. Jess had hit him through his right shoulder.

"Down missy," Daniels snapped before he yanked Jess back down as the car headed onto the ill-designed, bumpy streets of Cairo.

The car came to an abrupt stop as they met with a crowd of eerily still people. Jonathan paled as the people turned their way showing boil plagued faces and they immediately started shambling towards them.

"Drive Jonathan!" Rick ordered.

Jonathan mentally prayed for forgiveness as his foot pressed down hard on the accelerator and he ploughed into the crowd. Sure he wasn't going that fast but he was certain as he heard the thuds of bodies bumping off the front of the car that more than a few would suffer internal injury. They might be trying to kill him and the others but it wasn't their fault, Imhotep had possessed them somehow.

They were attacked almost instantly as the car swerved past stalls, screeching in protest as Jonathan turned the steering wheel frantically. The group cursed and fought hard as boil ridden people tried to clamber onto the car, little caring for the Americans' guns, Jess' arrows, and Ardeth and the curator's scimitars. Ardeth hacked them back mercilessly whilst Jess whacked at them with her bow, they were getting too close for her to notch an arrow.

They screamed and raised their hands to shield themselves as the car collided hard with a couple of stalls resulting in dust and merchandise flew through the air.

"Hang on!" Jonathan grunted as he pressed the gear into reverse.

Evelyn screamed as hands groped at her before she shoved them back frantically, pushing out with everything she had. "Get going Jonathan!" she snapped as she shoved a man off Rick.

Daniels let out a yell of horror as two men grasped him from either side, placing their hands under his shoulders and pulling him up and back. "O'CONNELL! O'CONNELL!" he screamed.

The car lurched forward as Daniels was pulled back, sending him tumbling to the ground as his blazer was pulled off his right shoulder and fell in a crumpled heap. Rick glanced back just in time to see Jess spring from the car without a moment's thought, unleashing an arrow as she did.

"Jonathan stop the car!" Rick roared. The car was speeding from Daniels and Jess fast and Rick was already losing sight of the pair to the crowds.

Daniels stood up hastily, backed against a wall and immediately started shooting both his guns. He would be damned if he would go out without a fight! BANG! BANG! BANG! He shot and shot at the crowds until he had nothing left to give. His heart was hitting off his lungs so hard he was certain they were bruised, his breaths came out in deep, sharp gasps that only added to aches in his lungs and despite the chill of the night air he was soaked in sweat. He looked at his guns in horror as they betrayed him with their telltale clicking.

The crowd turned as one to the man, looking at him expectantly as he paled and clicked his guns again in desperation. When they parted he felt a very real rush of terror run through him and when the mummy appeared, almost fully formed and still robed in black, he almost lost it as a whimper escaped him. His eyes went wide with horror and his mouth parted slightly as he looked nervously up at the approaching form.

The Texan dropped his useless guns and began fumbling in his pockets for his canopic jar, hoping to bargain for his life with it. Shit, where was it?

"Here! I have what you want not him!"

The colour drained from Daniels' face at the bold voice crying out from the crowd. The mummy delayed his attack of the American to turn curiously to spy the source of the yelling. The crowd parted once more for him and there she was. Her golden-brown hair was a tangled mess spoiled with dirt and debris, a blood smear stained her left cheek, and there were fresh stains all over Evelyn's cream shirt, which hung over her own tan trousers messily. She had abandoned the bow and instead held out both hands, one clutching the shattered remains of a lion canopic jar whilst the other clutched a jackal headed jar.

Daniels let out a gasp of horror as he patted his pockets in disbelief. When the hell had she swiped that and why? He shook his head in protest as her eyes flickered towards him briefly and she gave him a sad smile.

"I took them!" Jess shouted at the mummy as she looked back at him. He looked half-living and half-dead, a gruesome mixture of monster and man. "Me!" She took a brave step towards the creature, not once betraying the fear that flooded through her.

Out of the corner of her eye Jess saw the others; Rick and Ardeth had come back, thank God! She was afraid to draw the mummy's attention to them but she had to talk to Rick. "You get him out of here!" she snapped at O'Connell fiercely. "And you do it now damn it!"

Rick nodded back dumbly at the woman even as he raised his gun, preparing to help her somehow.

She threw the canopic jars at the mummy before he could react to Rick and the bow was in her hands again, an arrow ready for firing. The creature frowned before letting out a hiss of displeasure as an arrow became imbedded in his chest. He bent and swept up the canopic jars in one fluid motion as Rick and Ardeth took the opportunity to rush over to the stunned Daniels.

Daniels shook his head and tried to shake off the men as he looked to Jess in horror. "No, no!" he protested.

The mummy snapped the arrow in his chest just as another one sank straight into his brow. Jess looked past him to Daniels and she actually smiled again. Daniels couldn't understand it and he yelled out several curses as he struggled hard against Rick and Ardeth as they tried to usher him back to the car.

"Move you fool!" Rick snapped at him. "I'll get her, I've still got bullets!" He pushed the Texan hard, sending him stumbling to the car the others waited in, transfixed as they looked to Jess. For a moment no one was attacking them, the crowd's poisonous stare was locked on Imhotep but Rick could see Beni's red fez bobbing along the mob, moving towards them and he knew it wouldn't be long before the Hungarian spied them and ratted them out again.

The mummy's hand was on Jess' throat, lifting her up with ease from the ground as its jaw dislocated and dropped down to devour her life force.

"NO!" Daniels seemed to scream then as Jess started to twitch and shriek in pain. Rick punched him, sending him into a daze of pain and confusion. It made him compliant enough for Ardeth and Rick to bundle him into the back of the car once more.

Rick turned back for Jess quickly, guns at the ready but it was too late. He shuddered in horror before daring to do the unthinkable. With a curse at himself Rick jumped back into the car and abandoned the doomed woman.

Beni was beside Imhotep now, rubbing his bloody shoulder as he watched the woman being drained with a gleam of joy in his beady eyes. She flailed against the creature, howling in pain as she grasped at his hand on her throat pointlessly as her skin turned paper thin and her body seemed to shrink in against itself.

The car was moving again, the figures becoming a blur in the dust but Daniels could still see Jess. He cursed again when she fell still. "WHY?! WHY?! STUPID, STUPID GIRL!" Daniels yelled angrily.

The group didn't have much time to contemplate their fresh loss as the car was attacked once more. The crowds came harder this time and Jonathan lost control of the wheel as a man grabbed him about the shoulders with both hands. His feet fumbled for the brakes and accelerator simultaneously as he tried to right the car and shake the form off himself.

The car slammed into a wall hard sending the adventurers in all directions with several cries of pain. When the world stopped spinning and the dust settled they moved to right themselves and stumble out of the ruined vehicle now bearing fresh cuts and bruises. No sooner than they were out of the car they found themselves surrounded anew but the diseased mob wasn't attacking them, yet.

The crowd began to part and they knew what was coming. "Get back Daniels," Rick ordered the Texan as he stepped in front of him. Jonathan shuffled before him too as did Ardeth, ensuring the last of the unlucky trio was concealed.

There he was again, their everlasting foe now looking fully reformed he was more god than monster, a being of muscular, bronze flesh, smooth from head to toe, and his eyes now bled to brown.

"He has consummated the curse," the curator gasped, "and he has all the jars, now all he needs to do is raise Anck-su-namun."

Jonathan glanced at the curator with a raised eyebrow before looking back at the mummy in terror. Somehow he looked even worse without the bandages and decay.

"Keetah mi pharos... aja nilo, isirian," the mummy spoke, his words for Evelyn alone as he gave her a penetrating stare.

Beni appeared then, a sneer on his face as he stared to translate. "Come with me, my princess. It is time to make you mine forever."

"For all eternity, idiot," Evelyn retorted scornfully as she rolled her eyes at Beni. She tried to seem unfazed but she was terrified and close to tears for poor Jess. It had happened so suddenly and unexpectedly than Evelyn hadn't even really registered the loss yet.

Beni shrugged carelessly even as his eyes scanned over them suspiciously; he had arrived to see Imhotep consume Jess and was unsure of the Texan's fate, not seeing him he decided Imhotep must have gotten him too. 'Pity I missed that one's fate,' he thought mournfully.

"Koontash dai na... aja nilo," the creature continued before extending a hand out to Evelyn.

"Take my hand... and I will spare your friends," Beni translated once more before glancing up at Imhotep with a look of displeasure. The Hungarian didn't see that anyone should be spared now, save himself of course.

"Oh dear, any bright ideas?" Evelyn quipped as she looked to Rick nervously.

"I'm thinkin', I'm thinkin'," Rick muttered as he eyed the crowd warily.

Evelyn swallowed hard, her decision made. She could see no other option and she knew what Imhotep had planned for her would take time, if she could at least gain them some time that was something. "You better think of something fast," she addressed Rick sternly, "because if he turns me into a mummy you're the first one I'm coming after!" She stepped forward then before anyone could stop her and accepted the waiting hand. His grip was hot and strong against hers and she flinched to feel it.

"No! What are you doing?!" Rick snapped. He almost stepped forward betraying Daniels' presence but the Texan held him back, grasping his shirt from behind, as much for his own self-preservation as for Rick's.

"Evie!" Jonathan looked to her in horror. He wanted to rush forward but Ardeth held him back.

"He has to take me to Hamunaptra to perform the ritual," she reminded them.

"She is right," Ardeth spoke up. "Live today, fight tomorrow."

Beni came forward then, his hand darting into Jonathan's shirt pocket. The pair scuffled for a moment and Daniels found himself pressing hard against the wall behind him, holding a breath in desperately as he feared detection.

"That's mine!" Jonathan snapped as Beni found the trinket he had been seeking, the key for the Book of the Dead.

"Thank you," Beni said snidely before stepping back to the safety of Imhotep.

Imhotep turned then with Evelyn tight in grasp and uttered his damning words. "Pared oos."

"Kill them," Beni translated with a delighted smile as he turned and started walking beside Imhotep.

Evelyn started screaming and struggling then. "No!"

The crowd moved for them like a pack of ravenous hyenas and they were lost from Evelyn's sight as she tried to turn back to them. Ardeth and the curator cut back at them fiercely with their swords whilst Rick fumbled for salvation, a cistern in the ground. He looked to Jonathan and Daniels to help him but Jonathan was busy fighting back two assailants whilst Daniels was just standing there, his face drawn and his expression blank.

Rick gave a grunt as the cistern finally came free and he pushed it to one side. He stood then, grabbed Daniels and pushed him down inelegantly without a word of warning. The Texan came to life then with a scream of alarm before he hit the ground with a hiss of pain.

"Now you!" Rick snapped as he held a hand out to Jonathan.

"In a moment!" the Englishman retorted merrily. "I'm a little occupied." He kicked out hard at one man before punching another and then running to Rick. He accepted the hand and let out a yell as he was swung into the hole.

Daniels cursed as he was sent crashing back to the ground by the force of Jonathan.

"Your turn!" Rick snapped at Ardeth. BANG! Rick shot a man coming at him with a sickle. BANG! He hit another in the arm.

Ardeth looked to the curator who pushed him on with a firm nod before swinging his scimitar at several assailants. "Go!" the curator snapped.

Ardeth jumped down the hole unaided and landed on both feet unlike Jonathan and Daniels.

"Come on, you next!" Rick snapped at the curator with a look of impatience. "Hurry!"

"No!" the curator protested without looking back as he swung his scimitar again and again. "Go, find a way to stop the creature! I'll close the cistern!"

Rick nodded as he swallowed back his own protest; he knew someone had to close their exit to stop them from being pursued. He supposed grimly that the zombie like crowd might just reopen it and follow them but he didn't credit them with such mentality. "Good luck," he muttered before jumping after the others.

The curator said nothing; instead he swung out again and again, the sweat lashing down his brow as he did. He moved then, ducking to the cistern lid and pushing hard against it. He ignored the hands pulling at his clothes and the nails raking down his skin as he did. Screams of pain emerged from him as blood was drawn from his skin and his clothes were ripped, they were going to tear him apart! The cistern lid finally slipped into place and he turned back with his scimitar once more as they forced him to the ground.

Ardeth tensed and murmured a prayer as he heard the howls from above, echoing down through the old underground passage they now strode through. They could scarcely see, what little light reached them came from the pale, grey moonlight seeping through cracks in the ceiling above turning the tunnel to shades of grey with long shadows. Rick had to keep lightning matches to give them any kind of help.

"Why?" Daniels groaned weakly as his eyes swelled with tears. "Why did she do it? I don't understand," he croaked with a shake of his head. "She had her own plan, she had to keep going, why the hell did she do it? Fuck!" He raked his hands through his dark hair and doubled over in a moment of grief. Now he really was the last one left and what for? What was the point? To delay the inevitable? Hell even if he somehow managed to survive all this what was he going to do after? Go back alone? They had all failed, their treasure had been cursed and was now in the hands of the creature, Jess' family remained beneath the dirt and Set had found victory through the mummy. 'And me,' Daniels thought numbly, 'she died because I let them get me, I got pulled from that car and she had to come after me, this is my fault!'

Images of his fallen friends repeated over and over in his mind. Bernie at first with bloody sockets where his eyes should be, there in Henderson's arms searching for them in despair as he tried to form their names and couldn't, then drained, a green husk lying on a hotel room, dead in a place he had never even seen. Next was Henderson, brave until the end, a sharp shooting cowboy reduced to a dried up body lying on the floor of a hotel room, dead in a foreign land. Daniels knew Henderson would hate that, the man had always been determined to die at home on his ranch and now he had been denied that. He had wanted to remarry too, he had shared that with Daniels, find a nice girl and have some sons. He had encouraged Daniels to do the same but Daniels had had no interest after Bethany. Finally there was Jess, an odd thief in Cairo, he had dismissed her so easily, hadn't even liked her to begin with but she had been stubborn. She had stayed despite his insults and God wasn't she plucky for one so terribly scarred by life? He might never have even realised the small spark of something he had felt for her if not for Henderson, oh how he could curse his late friend for that now. If only the blonde had said nothing, well that wasn't entirely true, perhaps he might still have kissed the woman at the bar if only to answer his own curiosity.

Jess was supposed to be buying herself time, staying alive until she got that wretched book and ended the curse of Set on her family either by bringing back her family or freeing their cursed souls from this world, or simply proving her father's innocence, Daniels didn't really know what solution she would have found with the book. He knew she had clung to the belief of getting them back, it had kept her going through all this but maybe, maybe when he had scorned that she had lost some hope. "Oh God," he choked out, "did I make her give up? I told her she couldn't have her family back; did that make her want to die?"

"No you idiot," Rick scorned him as he stepped towards him at last. He had decided to give the man some berth, fearing a punch or kick if he went to him, but it was time to move and as much as he sympathised with the man they did not have time to grieve right now. "She liked you, for whatever reason, and she couldn't lose you. Hell I don't pretend to understand it, or her, people do crazy things for other people that's all I know."

"He's right, man," Jonathan remarked as he dared to do what Rick did not, and reached out to Daniels. He clamped a hand down on the man's back in a shared sympathy. He was still in shock, both over Jess' death and Evelyn's dramatic departure. He feared the worst for his sister but he had some of her hope too and knew that so long as they kept breathing there was a chance. "Jess had her own goals in this but she set them aside when she thought you might die," he explained, realising the truth of the matter even as he said it. "She lost too many people, she couldn't lose one more." He bowed his head in his own sorrow; he had liked Jess a lot and couldn't believe she had been taken from them.

Daniels swallowed down a sob, letting it out as a sigh as he realised that Jonathan was right. Her mother, her father, and six brothers, all lost in a horrible, gory and drawn out fashion and she the guilt stricken survivor, believing herself responsible simply because she could not stop it. Then Burns, she had been with him just moments before, she had sent him from the chamber of ghouls in a desire to protect him, unwittingly sending him into the path of the mummy. It had taken her a long time to confess that to Daniels and Henderson, the guilt had been clear in her watery eyes as she had told them of it, evidently expecting them to agree and curse her out but Henderson had just shook his head whilst Daniels had grumbled that she had 'done right even if wrong had happened'. Finally Henderson, Daniels had always thought she was more drawn to him, too stupid to realise it was himself she looked too. Henderson was the cowboy of her favourite stories after all but now he supposed morbidly, Henderson had been more like a brother than anything else, blonde like Jess and undoubtedly like her brothers, he was probably like Lorcan who spoke of the cowboys so often with high regard. In the end Henderson had become another brother she had lost.

Yes, the Texan could see how the woman might have lost it at the thought of failing someone else, of losing yet another person who mattered in her life. 'Did I matter?' he wondered dumbly with a shake of his head. 'Shit Jess, why?'

"It wasn't worth it," Daniels grumbled.

"You can make it worth it," Rick said sternly. "Let's finish this Daniels, let's send this bastard back to the ground once and for all and save Evelyn."

"It won't bring them back, will it?" Daniels quipped numbly.

"No but it might let them rest," Ardeth answered him with a solemn look.

Daniels just shook his head before shrugging off Jonathan and standing upright. He thought of Jess' ramblings about the book and then Evelyn too admitting the powers it held that she had dismissed as myth. His eyes flickered towards Jonathan as he formed an unsaid question in his own serious stare.

"One thing at a time," Jonathan murmured as he tensed slightly under Daniels' gaze, as if he knew what dark thoughts the man was thinking. "Let's get out of this place first," he added as he looked about the shadows nervously.

"Her curse is different," Daniels mumbled as he walked. "The curse of Set, how does that get ended? What if ending it..." He trailed off, he didn't even know what he was thinking now, Set's curse had destroyed her family and brought ghouls after her and anyone who got near her but it was the mummy's curse that had ultimately ended her. Why was he even bothering to contemplate it? Maybe ending Set's curse would see her family at peace but it wouldn't bring her back, would it? Would the book? Shit he didn't know, he knew so little about this messed up country and all its myths that were turning out to be horribly true.

"Is the curse really consummated with Daniels here still walking around?" Rick queried Ardeth as he walked beside him.

Ardeth shrugged. "I do not know, it is plausible the mummy needed the jars more than the thieves, the thieves made him flesh again but perhaps he did not need all of them to do so. Or, perhaps, that may be our remaining chance and he is not yet whole but simply thinks that he is as he took your friend at her word and believed her to be the last thief."

They walked quietly then moving into a damp sewage system that they treaded through with shared looks of revulsion. It took them another hour before they finally escaped; pushing out a worn, rusting grid to the mercifully empty streets of Cairo now bathed in violet blue.

"Now what?" Jonathan quipped with an anxious look. "Are we going to get to Evie?"

"We must make haste," Ardeth advised, "for the creature can travel across the desert with great speed."

"I know how we can beat him there," Rick said confidently as he wiped some of the grime from his brow.

"How?" Daniels croaked morosely.

"I have a friend with a plane who's eager for death," he answered with a bright smile.

* * *

 _Wow this was a tough one to write! I hope no one was expecting it :-) So here the presence of Jess finally shifts the plot from the movie with Daniels' survival. I hope this explains more of Jess' character too, why she was so drawn to the Americans. It was Henderson at first because he reminded her of her brothers being blonde like them and then being the cowboy they constantly talked about it but then it was Burns who treated her like a sister due to the recent loss of his own sister Katie so that made Jess want to continue to linger with the Americans as Burns gave her a small reminder of the brotherly love she was missing and finally Daniels she developed feelings for._

 _As always thanks for the favs, alerts and reviews and please continue to read and review!_


	16. Chapter 16- Living Versus the Dead

It was a beautiful, hot, golden dawn as the bedraggled and mismatched group of Ardeth Bay, Rick O'Connell, Jonathan Carnahan, David Daniels, and one depressed looking Pharaoh Hound called Anu made their way across the start of the desert to the largely abandoned airfield Winston Havlock had made a temporary residence.

"Now do you see why you can't bring the dog?" Rick grumbled tiredly as he gestured a sweaty hand forward to Winston's lone biplane. His cream shirt was now several shades of brown, yellow and red thanks to sweat, sand, dirt and blood and he was becoming less and less fond of the odour those same stains gave off in the morning heat.

"How exactly can you bring us never mind the dog?" Jonathan quipped as he frowned and gave the plane a puzzled expression. He looked even more dishevelled than Rick, his blazer was abandoned on the streets of Cairo, his shirt was almost entirely brown from the sewers and his off-white trousers had become a questionable shade of grey.

They had hastened from the streets of Cairo back to the fort to grab more bullets and guns before following Rick out to the airfield, travelling through the remainder night with little pause for rest, knowing that every second counted.

It was at the fort that they had found Anu, sitting outside the door to the Carnahan quarters waiting for a mistress who had sternly ordered him to stay in the fort. Rick had dismissed the dog with a barely a glance. Jonathan had mumbled awkward sentiments to Anu, suggested the dog was safe in the fort, and that he probably wouldn't understand anyway. Ardeth had looked at the dog gravely, remarked that animals were very perceptive and said that he could see the deep loyalty in the canine's eyes. Daniels had been the one to crouch before the hound, uncharacteristically reaching out a hand to scratch its ears before confessing the death of its mistress to it, addressing Anu sorrowfully as if the dog were human. When the dog had proceeded to howl before following them through the fort and out of it, it was Daniels who had insisted on letting the dog come with them. With no time to argue, Rick had simply grumbled that the dog couldn't travel to Hamunaptra the way they were going before leaving the matter at that.

"Dog's comin'," Daniels grumbled. "I left her body on the street to rot I ain't leavin' her dog too." He bristled at his own reminder. At least Burns and Henderson had been buried somewhere but Jess, she was just lying on some filthy street like rubbish. Daniels had promised himself that he would return for her when he got the chance but he didn't know whether he would ever find her remains or even if really wanted to. If he did what condition would they be in? He swallowed hard and dismissed that thought.

"You picked a fine time to stop being an ass and get sentimental," Rick scorned him with a shake of his head before making a beeline towards two figures near the plane who were looking at them inquisitively.

Winston sat on a wooden deckchair beneath a large, red parasol that a servant attended, on his right side was a tea trolley and a gramophone playing a merry, classical tune through the desert air, and on his left side was a table with several beverages resting upon them.

"And this man hates the way his life is," Jonathan complained sardonically, "I mean it certainly does look terrible, oh yes."

"Morning Winston," Rick greeted with a brittle cheer as he stepped up to the man, pausing to fix his faded blue neckerchief as he did.

"Morning Rick," the Englishman answered brightly as he stared up at him curiously, barely batting at an eye at his condition or his odd mixture of companions.

"A word?" Rick quipped as his eyes flickered over to the servant pointedly.

Winston waved the servant off with one hand and the man gave a nod before pacing off. Rick then began a hurried tale of men and a woman murdered by an evil from the desert that now had another woman captive in its grasp with a limited time for her survival.

"And what's your little problem got to do with His Majesty's Royal Air Corps?" Winston queried calmly as he tried to take in the news.

"Not a damn thing," Rick admitted as he rested his hands on his hips and peered out to the desert wearily.

Winston looked intrigued in this, leaning up slightly to ask, "will it be dangerous?"

"You probably won't live through it," Rick answered calmly.

"By Jove, do you really think so?" Winston queried excitedly as a bright spark long thought extinguished filled his eyes.

"Everyone else we've bumped into has died, why not you?" Rick retorted with a shrug.

"What's the challenge then?" Winston asked as he finally stood up, looking over Rick's shoulder at his companions as he at last wondered where they fit into it all.

"Rescue the damsel in distress, kill the bad guy and save the world," Rick summed up dryly like it was no big deal.

Winston's eyes went wide. "Oh! Winston Havelock at your service sir!" he announced as he saluted.

Rick gave a half-hearted salute in response before nodding and turning back to the others. "Alright, how are we going to do this?" He glanced back at Winston. "I need to get all of us in the air ASAP Winston."

"Even the dog?" Winston retorted as he looked at the black hound curiously.

"No," Rick answered.

"Yes," Daniels argued firmly with a glower at the Chicago born man.

"Daniels we are not out for walkies here," Rick snapped.

"We'll have to put some of you on the wings," Winston decided as he raised one finger and thumb under his chin with a thoughtful look. "There only is one plane but she's tough she'll hold you."

"I'm sorry on the what?" Jonathan quipped as he paled slightly.

Daniels folded his arms and looked at Rick smugly. "Well that settles it."

"What?" Rick spread his arms outwards as he looked back at his fellow American in disbelief. "How does that settle it?"

"You'll need two of us on either side for balance, not that I relish the idea," Daniels pointed, "which leaves a seat for the dog."

"Daniels are you out of your goddamn mind?!" Rick snapped at him. "The damn dog is not getting the only seat on the plane! I get it, you're sad about Jess but taking her dog on a tour of the desert isn't going to help!"

"Well he has a point," Winston mused, grinning when Rick gave him an exasperated look, "I mean you can't have two on one side and not the other, might lead to the plane flipping."

"Er about this plane travelling," Jonathan interrupted as he raised one finger as if in question and stepped forward.

"No time for your panicking now Jonathan," Rick scorned with a shake of his head. "And none of that means we have to take the dog Daniels," he snapped at the Texan.

"It doesn't mean we don't have to take the dog," Daniels replied stubbornly.

Anu barked as if in agreement with the man and turned a fierce stare on Rick.

Rick pressed his palms on his knees and leaned down slightly to smile cynically at the canine. "If you knew what that mad man had planned for you, you wouldn't be wagging your tail," he said as he pointed briefly at Daniels.

"The dog initially unsettled the creature," Ardeth pointed out, "perhaps it can still have this effect."

"See, the desert freak gets it," Daniels snapped as he gestured to Ardeth with one hand, ignoring the look of displeasure he got in response.

"I can't believe I'm hearing this," Rick grumbled with a roll of his eyes, "you actually want us to fly with a dog and the dog gets the seat."

"Given everything so far it's not so crazy," Jonathan commented, "and can I just say, I really don't mind walking with the dog."

"No, let's just get this show on the way," Rick grumbled as he turned back to Winston.

Twenty minutes later found them all securely strapped to the wings of the plane with Winston in the front seat and Anu, after much struggling and confused whimpering, strapped in the back to sit uselessly behind the plane's machine gun. Rick, though he looked the least nervous, was easily the most as he had been the only one strapped on by Winston and he did not have a lot of faith in the man's abilities to secure a load.

Once they were finally up in the air after a bumpy, laborious take off the screaming and barking began. Rick just cursed to himself whilst Jonathan shut his eyes and squealed. It was hard to time the journey as they all had to shut their eyes at several points thanks to sand in the air and the force of the wind, and everything seemed to past them by in a blur anyway.

Only when the wall of sand appeared did they snap back to reality.

"I want off! I want off!" Jonathan immediately began to panic.

It was a bizarre, almost mesmerising sight, a shifting wall of golden brown sand just to their right, it could have been part of a desert storm but somehow they all knew that wasn't the case. When it moved it was as if part of the desert had come to life.

"Hey Winston, pedal faster!" Rick snapped fiercely.

"Hang on men!" Winston shouted as he turned the plane down in a dive before pulling up sharply as the wall of sand seemed to purposely chase them.

The plane swayed left and right as the men all cursed and yelled and Anu barked frantically. The dog's barks turned into howls as a face appeared in the wall of sand, the giant, unmistakable image of their immortal foe, mouth agape and ready to devour once more.

The sand flew into every orifice, burning nostrils and blinding eyes as the open mouth of the sand mummy seemed to swallow the plane. With a loud roar the sand seemed to collapse around them as the plane spun frantically, trying to fight against the force of the wind and sand. As the sand fell back to the desert the plane escaped but the sputtering noises and the rapid speed it fell at made it clear that they weren't out of danger yet.

"Here I come laddies!" Winston cried out happily, his cheeks flushed with joy as he seemed to know that at long last his death wish was about to be realised and he was finally, finally going to join all his close friends that he had lost in the war.

The plane jerked up slightly, in time to spare it from being completely obliterated on impact, instead it slid slowly into the soft sands, coming to a halt in a flurry of sand and smoke as the nozzle was sucked up by the desert. The passengers struggled hastily to escape, Rick cutting his way free with a knife tugged out from his sleeve and Ardeth yanking his scimitar up to free his straps on its blade. Once free, Ardeth helped Daniels whilst Rick assisted the shouting Jonathan.

"A little help would be useful...if it's not too much trouble!" the Englishman yelled almost hysterically as his eyes blazed with rage.

Once freed, Daniels moved to Anu, freeing the hound and plucking him up from the plane whilst Rick went to Winston. "Not a hair outta place mutt," Daniels assured before dumping Anu on the ground with little grace.

Anu gave a growl of displeasure before shaking himself.

"Winston! Hey Winston!"

The pilot was still, eyes shut and a grin on his face. The plane lurched suddenly and began to sink rapidly into the sand without warning. "Quicksand! Get back!" Ardeth snapped.

The group stumbled back to safety, pausing to watch sombrely as yet another companion went to his grave. Daniels was unnerved at the sight, death seemed to come far too easily in Egypt, in just a handful of days his two closest friends were gone as was a woman who he had not even had time to decipher his feelings for.

Rick saluted the plane and watched in a respectful silence until it was out of sight. Once the sand had settled they turned and started a weary trek back towards a familiar destination.

"There it is," Jonathan remarked with a tired stare as the ruins of the dead city came into sight. His stomach was churning still and he felt like he could throw up. The desert heat certainly wasn't helping with that and the man couldn't help but feel an eagerness to get to the shade of the city even if it was cursed.

"Hell," Daniels commented grimly as he frowned. His head was pounding, his left arm had gone numb and he knew he had more bruises to add to the collection.

When they reached the ruins they paused for a brief moment's respite, Daniels leaning up against a column whilst Jonathan sat on a fallen pedestal and Rick sat at the feet of Anubis, purposely keeping the irony of that from his mind. Ardeth stood on a crumbled column keeping a wary lookout as he offered round a canteen of water to the men.

The camels of Daniels' and the other Americans' former scavenging party still remained as did remnants of their campsite. Daniels thought morbidly that it was almost as if he hadn't left and he wondered if maybe that was the point, that he wasn't meant to have left but instead should have perished from the curse here.

Rick shot Daniels a prying stare as Daniels continued to gaze about the ruins. To Rick, Daniels still looked like a man who wanted to die, he was cursed and alone and the odds were against him but yet he was here and even if it was a suicide mission, Rick still had to admire the man's guts. He wasn't so sure that he would be out here with everything against him. "We'll avenge them," Rick assured the man.

"I don't want vengeance," Daniels grumbled back as he looked over at Rick crossly. "I want them back and if I can't have that then I want to find that poor woman's body and give her a good burial and I want to end her curse." He frowned, upset and surprised at his own admittance. It wasn't like the Texan to be so open about his feelings but losing Jess so soon after Henderson had worn him down and he could not muster the strength to put on an apathetic front.

"My friend raising the dead is a dark and unnatural deed to carry out," Ardeth cautioned him with a stern look, "it is not something a man should tamper with."

"Firstly," Daniels growled back with a hostile glare, "I ain't your friend and secondly, you think I don't know that?! I got a mummy after my guts because of a woman tampering with a book." He scratched at his hair and grumbled, "it don't feel final though, not for Jess or Henderson or Burns."

"That's the shock," Rick said calmly. He was trying to be tolerable of his fellow American but a small part of him wished it was Henderson or Burns he was dealing with instead, of the three, Daniels was easily the most stubborn and impatient, and Rick found it difficult to get along with the man. Given they had only a narrow window to go on a suicide mission to save Evelyn, Daniels wasn't exactly Rick's number one choice for a comrade in arms. 'I suppose Jonathan isn't either,' he thought to himself sardonically, 'and at least Daniels can fight even if he is bull headed and close to a break down.'

"Really? Tell me O'Connell," Daniels addressed him with a serious stare, "if we're too late for Miss Carnahan are you going to just walk away and leave her dead in the ground?"

"Hey!" Jonathan protested as he stood up to glower at Daniels in annoyance. Seeing Daniels' heated glare, Jonathan immediately sat back down and added quietly, "that's not a nice image."

"It's a fair question," Daniels said calmly as he pushed off the column and resumed holding Rick's stare.

"Hopefully it's not one I'll have to answer," Rick replied frostily. "On that note, we should go. So," he glanced over at Ardeth, "what does Horus look like?"

"He's falcon headed," Jonathan answered brightly, "but it could take us ages to find him," he lamented, "after all, this is unexplored territory."

"Not quite," Ardeth confessed.

"Of course you know where the gold is," Daniels snapped at him.

"Just follow me," Ardeth murmured as he rolled his chocolate brown eyes at the frowning American.

* * *

The heat was close to unbearable when O'Connell and his small group of roughish misfits finally unearthed the entrance they wanted and plunged into the cool depths of Hamunaptra. The relief of escaping the heat of the sun was short lived as the stench of decay and echoing sound of scuttling was enough to make all the men long for the surface almost immediately.

They moved through a narrow tunnel, guided by torches they had seized from the abandoned campsite. There were remnants of broken pottery and faded engravings on the walls but no one even looked twice at them, all thoughts of exploring and plundering this ancient city long gone.

Jonathan made a retching sound as they walked through a narrow tunnel. He then queried mordantly, "did that warden die here because it smells a lot like him!"

They followed the tunnel until it ended in a wide chamber where remnants of a crumbled ceiling and broken pillars had gathered indicating a cave in. "We need to go that way," Ardeth said firmly as he gestured his torch towards the rubble.

"Of course we do," Rick muttered deprecatingly as he glanced about for a safe place to rest his torch. Finding a convenient spot, he sat down the torch, rolled up his sleeves and started lifting the rocks.

Ardeth and Daniels joined him whilst Jonathan hung back with Anu and began shouting out words of instruction and encouragement. "I'd take those bigger stones first. Take them from the top; otherwise the whole thing will collapse on us."

Rick let out a grunt of displeasure as he tugged at a stubborn stone repeatedly.

"Come on. Put your backs into it!" Jonathan shouted out impatiently. When all three men paused momentarily to glower his way he let out a nervous laugh. "Yes, well, you've got it," he said hastily before turning from them. He moved to explore the chamber, holding his torch ahead when something seemed to catch in its light.

In the wall before him Jonathan spied an ovular shaped gem that glittered like an amethyst in the light of the torch. Intrigued, he hastened forward and reached out to it with his free hand. He coiled his hand about it and pulled on it tightly, frowning when it seemed to be stuck. "Chaps, you should come have a look at this," he remarked brightly just as it finally came free and he stumbled back in surprise.

Jonathan held his palm open to inspect his new prize when suddenly it moved. He let out a loud shriek of horror when the thing dove into his skin without warning and began moving up his arm rapidly. "It's in my arm! My arm!" he yelled as he dropped his torch to clutch at his arm, tearing at his sleeve frantically. Anu started barking and running round him frantically as if sharing his alarm.

"What now?" Daniels grumbled as Rick and Ardeth rushed to Jonathan's side.

"It's in my arm!" he shouted again.

Their eyes widened at the sight of the ovular bulge of flesh racing up Jonathan's limb. Rick and Ardeth exchanged a horrified look from either side of the Englishman. Rick queried, "what do we do?"

"Anything!" Jonathan roared as his eyes went wide.

Ardeth ripped the sleeve at the top of Jonathan's shoulder and Rick snapped, "hold him!" Rick tugged out his butterfly knife and Jonathan's eyes filled with terror.

"Not that!" Jonathan protested. "Not that!"

Rick ignored him as he dug the blade into Jonathan's arm just as the bulge moved. He pressed it down as Jonathan screamed and blood came rushing up. Rick then flicked the blade up, sending the creature out and through the air. It landed on the ground unharmed and immediately starting running towards them as if wanting to finish what it had started. Rick tugged out his pistol quickly and fired it, instantly ending the insect's life.

"No more playing around," Daniels grumbled as he gave them all an annoyed look. He hadn't even moved from the debris to help Jonathan.

"I wasn't! Jonathan protested with a miffed look as he clutched at his wounded limb.

"Right," Rick retorted dryly as he holstered his gun. He then resumed moving the rubble.

"You Americans always have to keep touching things," Ardeth scolded as he ripped off part of his tunic and began to bandage Jonathan's arm with it.

"I'm not American," Jonathan retorted indignantly.

"He's got that right," Daniels chimed up as he and Rick shifted the last of the rubble out of the way. "He's also got the stickiest fingers out of everyone."

Jonathan turned to him with a frown before his eyes brightened slightly and he gave a small grin. "Look Dav...er Daniels, we've got the same war wound!" He shook out his now bandaged left arm before wincing at the pain that shot through him.

Daniels looked at Rick stonily as the Chicago man snickered. "O'Connell if I die today don't let it be with him," Daniels implored.

"I'll try," Rick answered calmly before picking up his torch once more.

They wandered for a further excruciating twenty minutes, manoeuvring down several stairways and round numerous corridors bypassing ancient furnishings, wall carvings and relics not seen for thousands of years. Finally they reached a place not even they had thought to be real. At first there was only darkness before O'Connell noticed his torch glinting off something. He moved towards the object and realised it was a bronze mirror disk. Glancing up he saw a beam of sunlight somehow carried down through a slit in the ceiling and he turned the disk to catch it. Instantly there was light.

"Can you see-" Jonathan stammered in awe.

"Yeah," Rick replied bluntly as he started walking down the creamy, stone staircase before them.

"Holy shit," Daniels gasped.

They were in a giant treasure chamber surrounded by all the wealth of Egypt. Gold seemed to glitter everywhere they looked in all forms- ornaments, statues, coins, jewellery, weapons and even clothes. It sat, untouched for centuries, dust covered with cobwebs hanging off it and yet for all the time it had lingered beneath the earth it was no less majestic or impressive. There were statues four times the height of Ardeth of sitting queens and standing pharaohs. Giant boxes with detailed hieroglyphs and imagery carved all around them sat promising unseen riches within. Coins seemed to spill down the steps, whilst bracelets, rings and necklaces of gold were heaped in the corners, abandoned like they were pebbles swept up from the floor. Golden gods looked at them from every point in the form of statues, masks, figurines and faces carved into breastplates and shields.

"Can you believe-" Jonathan continued.

"Yeah," Rick answered dismissively. He walked on with Ardeth leaving Jonathan and Daniels gawking on the steps.

"Can we just-"

"No!" Rick snapped impatiently.

Jonathan frowned as he looked to Daniels as if seeking support from the American. "Are you seeing this Mr. Daniels?"

"Yeah Jonathan I'm seeing it," Daniels retorted, the awe clear in his voice as he turned his head upwards, scanning every inch of the chamber he could.

"Well what do you think; can we just take one or two things?" Jonathan queried pleadingly.

"I'd say we get rid of our undead friend and then we can fill our pockets," Daniels retorted. He thought with a prickle of sorrow how much his late friends deserved to see this, how Henderson had always had such a faith in this treasure being here and yet had so cruelly been denied the sight of it.

Jonathan grinned. "Ah Mr. Daniels I knew there was something in you I liked."

Their moment of awe was short lived as the earth seemed to explode before Rick and Ardeth as rotting, bandaged hands shot up from it. The ground crumbled with ease to give way to the mummies writhing and scrambling up of it, hissing and shrieking as they did.

"Who the hell are these guys?" Rick demanded as he readied his gun.

"Imhotep's priests," Ardeth answered.

"Alright then," Rick retorted calmly before the gunfire began.

The priests seemed to keep coming no matter how many bullets were fired into them. Even when Ardeth chopped one in half both body parts writhed across the ground towards him. Anu bravely sank his teeth into one's ankle, tugging and pulling at it until the foot came free in his mouth and the mummy collapsed in the process.

"We need something better than this," Rick murmured as he tugged out a stick of dynamite from the small pouch of explosives he'd brought as a precaution. "Daniels I know you've got a light!" he called back to the Texan.

Daniels fumbled to holster one gun and shoot with the other as a mummy came running at him. As he tugged out his matchbox he blew the thing's head off at last but that wasn't enough to stop its mad pursuit. He ran to the left to avoid it, shooting at its knees as he did. It finally went down in a cloud of dust just as his back banged into O'Connell's. "Here," he grunted as he struck the match hastily and handed it back.

Rick let the stick before shouting, "this way fellas, quickly!" They ran through the chamber, pushing and shooting past the priests before reaching the exit. Rick paused and turned back to throw the stick of dynamite before following the others through to the next room. There was a loud bang and Jonathan paused in his running to look back woefully. "What about the gold?" he demanded.

"Not now Jonathan," Rick muttered as he grabbed the Englishman by his shoulder and spun him round in the direction Ardeth and Daniels were running.

They hurried down another dark corridor, led by Ardeth's lone torches as everyone else's had been abandoned in the treasure room. Jonathan let out a yelp when the walls seemed to come alive sending plaster and dust flying into them as mummies forced their way through it. Daniels cursed as one pawed at his head before he shot it in the gut.

"This whole place is coming alive!" Jonathan snapped as he sprinted harder, swiftly overtaking Ardeth and Daniels.

"Ain't they dead?" Daniels queried nervously as he fired his guns until they gave that horrible clicking sound again. "Damn it!" he cursed he fumbled to reload one all while trying to dodge their attackers.

Rick covered Daniels momentarily whilst Jonathan abandoned them all. Ardeth's sword flashed furiously alongside his torch as he seemed to swing out in all directions, desperately trying to stop himself from becoming overwhelmed by mummies.

Once Daniels had reloaded, Rick demanded another match for him and pulled out another stick of dynamite. They hastened out of the tunnel and Rick threw the burning stick backwards. BOOM! The entire room seemed to shake with the impact as part of the ceiling gave way.

"Boy I hope you can find us a way outta here again!" Daniels snapped to O'Connell as they turned a corner and found themselves entering a new chamber.

This one was small, grim and sparsely decorated but there was one item that caught their attention. "Horus!" Jonathan exclaimed as he gawked up at the statue of the falcon headed deity. The statue stood in the centre of the room, its head barely visible in Ardeth's torchlight. There was little else to the room save one exit, a narrow, dark passageway to the left.

Jonathan and Rick scrambled to the base of the statue, falling to their knees and clawing at the soft dirt with their hands.

"Well at least it's not hard ground," Jonathan murmured.

"Dig quicker we've got company!" Daniels snapped as he raised both his guns to the shadows looming up the tunnel through the gloom. He felt his throat tighten and his blood run cold at the three forms shambling towards them. Words failed him as he blinked hard; trying to convince himself that it was an illusion. One bore a tattered, chequered, grey blazer and a misshapen, grey hat, it moved quickly but almost confused as it had sockets where eyes should be. The second seemed to lead the three, moving in the middle at a quicker pace. Daniels made out the outline of a cowboy hat and the shadows that suggested dust covers over the lower legs. The third was the slowest, wearing tattered, brown trousers, a stained, cream shirt and shit, it couldn't be! Daniels swallowed hard as his left hand started to tremble slightly. The third figure was wearing a fedora, his fedora beneath which wiry, golden-brown hair spilled.

"Shoot them already!" Ardeth ordered him frantically.

Daniels shook his head and cursed as he suddenly holstered his guns and stumbled back. "Not them," he choked out as his skin turned a chalky white. "Not them."


	17. Chapter 17- Ending the Mummy's Curse

Jonathan and Rick were too caught up in their frantic digging to notice Daniels' dilemma. Jonathan's eyes widened as they finally started to unveil a box beneath the dirt. It was just as his and Rick's nails scraped against its aged wooden surface that holes appeared in the ground around them and several bandaged hands reached up to grasp at them.

Jonathan let out a shriek of horror as a rotted hand wrapped around his right ankle and tugged him back from the box without warning. His chin banged hard off the ground as he struggled to turn and free himself, his right hand fumbling for a gun as he did.

Rick reacted better as he was grabbed, rolling onto his back and unloading both his Colts into the mummy's face. "These guys just don't quit, do they?" he queried sarcastically. He winced when one seemed to explode up from the earth to his left and grabbed him by his necktie before he could react.

Jonathan and Rick both let out a yell of alarm as they found themselves hoisted up and tossed through the air like rubbish. As they landed three mummies rushed together for the box. Jonathan's mouth parted in an O shape of surprise when there was a splashing noise and several hisses of pain as the box was flung open. The mummies turned together to face Rick and Jonathan, now clawing at their own faces which appeared to be melting away revealing aged skulls.

"It was booby trapped," Jonathan remarked in surprise.

"Yeah, we'll thank them later," Rick grunted as he aimed his pistols.

Throughout this all Daniels remained as he was- frozen in shock, his arms hanging useless by his side as he seemed to welcome the three forms shambling towards him. Ardeth was ready to attack them until Rick and Jonathan's problem distracted him. The Medjai warrior's eyes flickered towards the box briefly as he hastened towards a mummy with his scimitar out.

Anu hastened to Daniels' side, ears flat as he growled up at the approaching trio threateningly. Daniels seemed to jolt out his trance at this, looking down to the dog in surprise. "Ain't it Jess?" he queried hoarsely.

"You left me Dave," Burns' voice called out to him accusingly, "twice you left me."

Daniels looked back at the eyeless form shuffling towards him as he felt a cold sweat lash down him.

"You left me too," Henderson's voice called, "for a drink, was it worth it?"

The Texan shook his head in despair at the words but he could think of no argument, he had left them. Sure he had returned for Burns when the mummy had come for him but it had been far too late, if only he hadn't left him in the first place.

"You cheated David," Burns accused him.

"You let someone else take your place, what a dirty trick," Henderson growled out.

Rick found himself pinned beneath a mummy, both of them with their hands at the other's throat whilst Jonathan finally scrambled to his feet and hurried to the now open box. There was a loud, noticeably female scream and everyone froze momentarily in reaction to it.

"Evie!" Rick cried out as he finally kicked the mummy off him. He jumped to his feet and wasted no time in shooting at the thing repeatedly until it went still. He looked up in time to see Daniels actually allowing three mummies to approach him and quickly raised his guns once more. Rick tensed and his cerulean eyes filled with a new kind of horror as he made out the forms in the dying torchlight. "Daniels they ain't what you think!" he called out even as he wondered if it was possible that the mummies were familiar.

Jonathan looked up from his prize at Rick's yelling and he almost dropped the gold tome he had rescued in his shock. "Jess?" He stumbled forward, clutching the heavy book close to his chest with both hands as he did. He turned to Rick in disbelief and shouted, "you can't shoot her man!"

Rick glanced out at Jonathan with his own disbelief and shook his head. "Jonathan," he snapped as he gestured at the three with one gun, "that can't be them. Come on, they're all buried in Cairo, how did they get here?"

Jonathan paled as he thought about it, recalling the eventful night in his own home. "Set's curse," he murmured.

Ardeth turned at Jonathan's words just as he beheaded a mummy. "Set's curse?" he repeated as he turned to Daniels with a frown. "Then someone must have intentions to end it if the god is trying to thwart us here."

"Well you know that," Rick grumbled, "the madman as good as admitted that. Daniels get away from them!" He couldn't get a clear aim at any of them; they were too close to Daniels now, crowding round him, ignorant to the dog that was now barking at them repeatedly.

Jess' rotted right hand reached up to press against Daniels' cheek and he flinched as it touched the same spot Bethany's dead hand had. They all looked drained, rotted flesh tight against their bones, their bodies looking older than they should, healthy bodies made mummies in mere minutes. Daniels wanted to look away but he couldn't, his gaze fell upon her dried out eyes that had long lost their spark.

"Make it right David," she said, almost pleadingly.

Daniels was too horrified to notice the dagger in her left hand as she lifted it towards his gut.

Anu jumped suddenly with a snarl, his jaws clamping down on the offending hand and worrying at it until he ripped it free as Jess' form staggered back in surprise. Daniels looked at the dagger in horror before he finally tugged out his revolvers. Henderson and Burns were armed too with swords that seemed ill-fitted for them, they swung them in Daniels' direction mercilessly but Anu was quicker.

Blood splattered through the air, splashing across Daniels' pallid face as he raised his guns. There was a loud yelp to go with the injury as Anu was sliced by Jess and Henderson's swords.

BANG! A bullet whizzed through Burns' skull. BANG! Another for Henderson, this time through the throat.

Rick moved to help Daniels, his own guns out and firing at the mummified Americans whilst Daniels' eyes locked with Jess' yet again. He knew as she stared back at him viciously, stained with the Pharaoh Hound's blood that it couldn't possibly be her, she would never hurt that dog. BANG! BANG! BANG! He shot and shot at the thing hatefully until both his guns clicked empty.

"Daniels it's done," Rick said firmly as he clamped a hand down on the Texan's right shoulder.

"No it ain't," Daniels grumbled darkly as he finally lowered the guns.

"Look," Jonathan spoke up hoarsely as he nodded to the forms now twitching on the ground.

Ardeth held his torch out to them but it wasn't Henderson, Burns or Jess lying in a heap, instead it was three soldiers who had once belonged to Rick's battalion a few years ago. "Set used their bodies to trick you into seeing something else," Ardeth explained coldly.

Daniels ignored him as he moved to crouch beside the dog dying on the chamber floor. He extended out a hand to rub at the dog's neck and his hand immediately became damp and sticky with blood. "You dumb dog," he grumbled at it, "what did you go and do that for?"

Anu let out a low whine, too sore to even lift his head a final time.

"You leaving me on my own too then?" Daniels queried savagely. "Well I hope it was worth it mutt." He let out a heavy sigh before tugging out a box of bullets and opening up one of his Colts to reload it. "I hope I was worth it, for you and her," he muttered, "but I sure as hell don't think so." The gun, fully loaded, clicked into place. Daniels moved his other hand up to the dog's head and gave it a gentle pat. "Never liked dogs," he admitted, "but I think I could make an exception for you. Well it'll be quick Anu, promise."

BANG!

Jonathan flinched at the sound and turned away from the dog as he paled slightly. Ardeth murmured a quick prayer and Rick just cursed. Their moment of respite was short lived as several roars and hisses informed them of more approaching mummies.

"Go!" Ardeth snapped at them with a fierce stare. "Save the girl, kill the creature!" He moved to the tunnel the mummies were coming through, charging at them with a fearsome bellow.

Rick looked about them quickly before spying a weak spot in the wall. He tugged out a stick of dynamite, extended his hand to Daniels and welcomed the struck match before lighting the stick. He threw it and gestured to Jonathan and Daniels to follow him. They hastened down and into an arch carved into the wall, eyes shut as they waited for the bang.

The explosion filled the chamber with enough force to have the walls and floor vibrating. The room filled with dust, the holes already in the floor widened and everyone's ears filled with a ringing noise. Rick wasted no time in leading them out through the cloud of dust and over the debris, urging them towards the new hole in the wall. He glanced back for Ardeth but the man was lost to the crowd of approaching mummies.

They entered at the top of a giant chamber, unaware as to how perfect their timing was as Imhotep paused to face them, the sacrificial dagger he had above Evelyn temporarily ceased from killing her. The priest towered above the Englishwoman, who was chained down to a stone table with the mummy of Anuck-su-namun writhing and hissing beside her. On a table of bronze the canopic jars sat, lined up beside each other with the Book of the Dead open before them.

"I've found it Evie!" Jonathan cried out triumphantly as he raised the book slightly. "I've found the book!" In his joy at actually finding a sacred treasure himself the Englishman seemed ignorant to the immediate danger.

"Shut up and help me Jonathan!" Evelyn shrieked as she fought against her chains, trying and failing to manoeuvre herself away from the mummy wailing angrily beside her.

BANG! Rick used his last bullet to shoot the dagger out of Imhotep's hand.

The priest flinched and looked at his hand in horror as a streak of dark blood seeped out of it. His brown eyes filled with confusion. Having not seen who had actually stolen from him he could not know that Daniels had. Imhotep had been following the essence of the jars and Beni's guidance, now the jars were all with him and Beni was gone so he could not fathom how he had been injured when he should be invincible. He turned to the mummy priests waiting beside him and shouted orders.

Rick tugged a large, ceremonial sword from a statue beside him as he readied himself for the inevitable.

"Open the book Jonathan; it's the only way to kill him!" Evelyn shouted as the priests moved to attack.

Jonathan looked down at the book and tugged at it, cursing in frustration when his nails were cut along the metallic edges as it refused to budge. "I can't Evie!" he called back anxiously. His hand slipped into a groove at the front, a star shaped indent that looked oddly familiar. "It's locked or something! We need the key Evie!" Jonathan's eyes filled with realisation, it had to be the same key Beni had taken from him.

"It's inside his robes!" Evelyn snapped.

Imhotep was now moving towards them, hand outstretched to Jonathan as if he could wrench the book from him from where he was standing.

Rick was sprinting down the stone steps, all too aware of the priests who had come to pursue them. He turned as he reached the bottom of the steps, ready for them but they were out of sight. He had not noticed them jumping onto the wall to run along it like spiders. They all dropped down behind him as Daniels yelled a warning. Rick turned and jumped back sharply to avoid a spear before swinging out his sword.

"O'Connell!"

At Evelyn's frantic voice Rick found himself filled anew with energy. He hacked and sliced his way through the mummies, fighting his way towards her and her mummy foe. Anuck-su-namun hastened from the woman just before Rick arrived. He swung the sword down twice at the chains, freeing Evelyn from her bonds as new foes arrived to distract him.

"Do something Johnny," Daniels grumbled as Imhotep finally reached them, a bronze sword in hand and ready to swing.

"What?!" Jonathan snapped, almost hysterically as he ran a finger down the hieroglyphs on the cover. He thought he could read them.

BANG! BANG! Daniels didn't waste any time in shooting at the priest.

Imhotep gave a tight smile as the bullet holes bled only briefly before closing over. He made a point of hiding the pain he felt from them as he hurried towards the American. His smile widened at the horror that filled Daniels' face, he remembered seeing that gaze before in the streets of Cairo. Yes, he had almost killed this pathetic man until the real thief had interfered. Real thief? He frowned as he took in the Texan's form, hadn't he been there when he had finished off the blind man? They both had, this man and the woman.

"Johnny at this point just do something other than nothing!" Daniels snarled hotly.

Jonathan stumbled back from Imhotep's imposing form as he started to read the inscription. "Rasheem-..." He struggled with interpreting the symbols. "Rasheem oola- Rasheem oola Kashka!" he finished exultantly just as he tripped and fell hard on his ass.

BANG! Daniels' bullets were spent and Imhotep was just about to run him through with his sword when the sound of marching was heard.

Everyone looked as more mummies came marching into the chamber. Only these weren't priests but guards instead, armed with shields and spears and wearing the tattered robes of the pharaoh's guard.

"This just keeps getting better and better," Rick grumbled as they started jumping with unnatural speed and height, moving pointedly in his direction.

Evelyn screamed as Anuck-su-namun's mummy came at her with the sacrificial dagger in hand and she was forced to start running. "Do something Jonathan!" she called in despair as she narrowly avoided the sword of a priest.

"Me?" Jonathan quipped hoarsely as he struggled to stand with the heavy book.

"You can command them!" Evelyn called.

"You must be joking," Jonathan snapped as he finally made it upright.

"Finish the inscription, idiot!" Evelyn snapped. "Then you can control them!" Her eyes filled with fear as she found herself almost running into a wall. She turned and sucked in a breath as she saw Anuck-su-namun running towards her, waving the dagger up and down rapidly.

Johnathan saw a shadow fall upon the golden book and he found himself turning up slowly to face the cold eyes of Imhotep. He let out a small gulp and swallowed hard as he realised he probably wasn't going to have time to finish the inscription.

Imhotep raised the sword, ready to behead Jonathan in an instant when Daniels suddenly called out to him. "Finish what you started with me first you bastard!"

Imhotep tensed in irritation but did not turn away from Jonathan.

"You might have killed my friends but you ain't immortal yet! Wonder why?" Daniels queried bitingly. He was standing just behind Imhotep, panting hard as blood trickled down his brow and he searched in vain for a weapon that wasn't there.

Imhotep turned then, moving rapidly; he grabbed Daniels by his throat before the Texan had time to react. His brown eyes stared deeply into Daniels' indigo ones as if searching for the truth.

Daniels' heart was hammering hard against his chest and his throat had turned dry but somehow he managed a grin. "You too dumb to figure it out?" he mocked as Jonathan started reading the inscription once more.

"Hurry up Jonathan!" Evelyn yelled.

"I can't figure out this last inscription!" the Englishman replied in a panic.

"What does it look like?" Evelyn demanded as she threw pot after pot at Anuck-su-namun with little success.

"A bird...er..." Jonathan bent one arm against his chest, miming a wing with it as he forgot that Evelyn couldn't see him and knew what birds were anyway. "A stork!"

"Ahmenophus!" Evelyn shouted.

Jonathan grinned in realisation. "Oh, I see," he said happily.

Imhotep's head turned sharply to face Jonathan before Daniels' words drew his attention back once more. "I took from yer damn chest and it was easy!"

Imhotep's eyes filled with rage and realisation as he turned back to Daniels and let out a roar, showering the man with spittle. His jaw then dropped down as he hastened to finish his curse.

"Hootash im Ahmenophus!" Jonathan completed the inscription.

Rick, who had found himself on the ground surrounded by guards, dared to open his eyes as he realised he wasn't being attacked. Six spears were pressed into him but the guards weren't moving to finish him off.

Evelyn let out a screech as the sacrificial dagger was slashed through her left arm and narrowly missed her chest.

Jonathan looked to his sister in horror at the scream before his face filled with determination. "Fa-Kooshka Anuck-su-namun! Anuck-su-namun!" he ordered as he pointed in the direction of his sister and the mummy trying to kill her.

The guards pulled the spears up from Rick and charged in the direction of Evelyn and the mummy. At Jonathan's words Imhotep hesitated in his devouring of Daniels' life force. Jonathan took advantage of the distraction and slammed the gold book hard against the priest's skull. The priest dropped Daniels with the impact, partially drained and sore but somehow still alive, and turned to face Jonathan with a glower.

Imhotep hesitated again when he heard Anuck-su-namun's screams as the guards destroyed her. His eyes filled with horror and pain as he looked to her as he considered going to her. It was too late however; the guards had her mummy turned to dust in seconds. "Anuck-su-namun!" he shouted out his pain before turning to Jonathan in a fury.

Rick, satisfied that Evelyn was safe, started running up the stone steps. He was exhausted now but had no time to think about his fatigue or pain as he moved to save Jonathan. Sword out, he bypassed Daniels and was surprised to see the Texan still alive against the odds though looking noticeably grey.

Rick slashed down his sword as Imhotep raised his own to cut Jonathan. Rick's blade cut through the priest's right arm with ease, sliding through the flesh like it was butter and sending the offending limb and sword to the ground.

Imhotep hissed in pain as blood spurted from the ruined limb but it was not enough to deter him as he reached out to Rick, grabbing him with his left hand and lifting him into the air. Rick let out a yell as he was flung across the chamber to slam into a wall with a wince. In the commotion Jonathan seized his chance to dart forward and seize the box from Imhotep's robes before waving it victoriously. "I've got the key Evie!"

Sensing Imhotep's gaze upon him, Jonathan started to move. As the priest followed, sword back in hand, Daniels did the honours of sticking out his foot and tripping him up. Imhotep slammed hard into the stone steps giving Jonathan the time to sprint down excitedly to his sister with the book and key. "Finish it Evie!" he cried out as he thrust the tome into her.

Evelyn accepted the book and key, doubling over as the weight of it almost pulled her to the ground. She carted it over to the stone slab she had briefly been imprisoned on and sat it there.

"Keep him busy!" Evelyn called out to O'Connell and Daniels.

Daniels was now back on his feet, a sickle in hand, seized from a statue of Anubis. He stood side by side with O'Connell, both men bloody, sweating, tired and almost at their point of limitation. They were at the bottom of the steps now, ready to finish the battle.

"No problem," O'Connell called back sarcastically.

"Hurry Evie! Hurry!" Jonathan shouted as he jumped up and down nervously on the spot as his eyes flickered from his sister to O'Connell and Daniels.

"Plan?" Daniels quipped dryly.

"Nope," O'Connell answered brightly as he swung his sword. He cut a deep wound through Imhotep's chest causing the mummy to hiss in pain before he deflected the sword with his own. His shoulder was no longer bleeding, instead his wounds revealed the rotted innards of an ancient mummy.

Imhotep pointed at Daniels accusingly as his jaw unhinged once more.

"Not this shit again," Daniels grumbled as he paled and swung at the priest's throat with the sickle. The blade cut through flesh like it was ribbon displaying brown bone and bandage tatters.

Evelyn turned heavy gold page after heavy gold page with a grunt of effort before finally finding the one she needed. "I've got it! Kadeesh mal. Kadeesh mal. Pared oos. Pared oos."

There was the crack of reins and the sound of horses neighing as a ghostly chariot suddenly came bursting into the chamber without warning. At its helm was a creature neither man nor beast, it towered over six feet, muscular, translucent flesh showing with only a loin cloth for dignity. Its head looked like that of a jackal and sent very real chills through Daniels and O'Connell. The horses raced towards Imhotep, the rider stretching out one clawed hand towards him. The hand seemed to pass through the priest, pulling out something as it did.

Imhotep howled in pain as he felt something wrenched from inside him and he turned to chase after the chariot but it was already speeding away, a form that looked a lot like Imhotep now in the rider's grasp, staring back at them with a haunting gaze.

"I thought you said it was gonna kill him!" O' Connell snapped at Evelyn as Imhotep turned to him with a grin.

Imhotep charged with a furious yell and met with O'Connell's sword as the blade plunged deep into his chest. Imhotep froze, his mouth parting as a gasp of pain seeped out of him and he looked down at the offending sword in shock.

"He's mortal!" Evelyn cried out as she looked over, victory gleaming in her hazel eyes.

Daniels lashed out at Evelyn's words, cutting through the priest's throat with his sickle once more almost severing the head from its shoulders.

Imhotep staggered back from the men, pulling the sword from his gut and discarding it as he did. In his delirium of pain he unwittingly stepped back into the rectangular pool behind him. It swirled as if alive, neither liquid nor air, it had an odd quality of inky mist to it and seemed to rise up around the mummy as if to devour him.

"Death is only the beginning," Imhotep whispered in his ancient language as his form started to transform back into that of a mummy.

Evelyn offered a translation for the others as she watched him, transfixed by his half-rotted and half-perfect form.

"Time to go!" Rick snapped as the chamber start to quiver as Imhotep was lost beneath the disturbing liquid.

Jonathan shut the Book of Amun Ra before lifting it in his arms. Daniels' eyes darted to the Book of the Dead and he seized the ebony book before anyone could protest.

As the floor cracked and split to reveal what looked like lava and the walls shook, threatening to give way, the group started to run. They headed across a pathway with bubbling, steaming lava on either side of it, wincing at the heat that turned their skin pink. When the floor quivered again, Jonathan stumbled with the impact and let out a wail of despair as the golden book slipped from his grasp and hit the lava with a disheartening splash.

Evelyn turned at the noise, her eyes going wide in horror as she rushed to the edge of the path. "You've lost the book! Jonathan I can't believe-"

"Come on!" Rick snapped as he grabbed the horrified woman and tugged her on.

They hastened through narrow corridors and up a set of steps as the entire building seemed to fall apart around them. Some rooms seemed to fill with sand whilst the walls shifted in others and the ceiling seemed to come down above them. Suddenly they found themselves back in the magnificent treasure chamber.

Both Daniels and Jonathan ceased their running to look about in wonderment and desperation. Jonathan extended out a hand to the glittering objects and queried, "couldn't we just-"

"No Jonathan!" both Evelyn and Rick snapped as Evelyn grabbed Jonathan's arm and Rick seized Daniels.

"You survived this far Daniels, best not dying over some coins," Rick chided as he pulled him up the steps.

It was here that Beni passed them in a blur as he ran into the chamber. Realising his error, he turned to follow after the others. They moved at a crouch as the ceiling started to come down, crushing the pillars as it did. Jonathan flinched as he narrowly avoided getting chunks of the pillar in his eye.

They were all filling with a panic as they moved, claustrophobia almost overcoming them. They were beyond tired now and their muscles cried out in protest as they tried to move low and yet fast as the ceiling pressed against their heads, forcing them lower and lower.

"O'Connell! O'Connell!" Beni shrieked desperately from behind them as he moved on his hands and knees, limbs stretching out in vain to Rick's retreating form.

Daniels was forced to drop the book as he had to go on his belly to keep going.

"Leave it!" Rick snapped.

"Like Hell!" the Texan retorted hotly as he pushed the book on towards the fading light.

Jonathan made it out first and turned to extend a hand back to the book. He grabbed it and pulled it out before reaching to Daniels. Rick slipped out last and turned back to Beni, extending out a hand as he did. "Come on Beni!"

It was too late however and the wall sank down, banishing the Hungarian from sight.

"Bye Beni," Rick murmured dryly. Though he felt the man deserved his fate he felt an odd pang of regret to see him become another victim of Hamunaptra. Rick had truly thought the man too smart for that.

Beni turned in a blind panic, scarpering back the way he had come, crawling left and right to avoid walls crushing him before he slipped back into the treasure chamber as the wall closed behind him. He seized a torch burning there and looked about nervously. Was it over? His eyes rolled up in horror as he heard a loud creak and saw the ceiling coming down again.

The Hungarian rushed down the steps to the centre of the chamber, watching in horror as the ceiling descended. He winced when it crushed a bronze mirror and the chamber was plunged into darkness, save for the feeble light coming from his torch. He shut his eyes, praying to whoever would listen as he prepared for the inevitable. Then it all stopped, the creaking ceased and for a moment there was only silence.

Beni let out a sigh of relief as he opened his eyes. It was then that the scuttling sound came as hundred of scarabs came scurrying into the chamber.

* * *

The ragtag group of would be adventurers winced as they emerged to the stinging light of the afternoon sun, choking up dust and dirt as they did. The Book of the Dead was now back in Daniels' grasp, held tight against his chest with one arm.

They had only a moment before realising that they weren't quite safe as the destruction started again.

"Run!" O'Connell snapped.

"Oh bloody hell!" Jonathan cursed as they started sprinting as the ruins started to fall around them.

They hastened across the sand in a blind panic as a large pillar creaked and turned behind them before coming down to hit the sand with enough of an impact to sending them rolling across the sand with curses.

Up once more, they ran and ran until they had no more energy and the city of the dead was a ruination of dust and crumbled debris behind them.

Doubled over and panting, they jumped again when a voice surprised them from behind. Jonathan clutched at his heart pointedly as he looked to the perpetrator at first in anger and then in disbelief. Ardeth Bay sat upon a horse looking down at them with a bemused smile.

"You have earned the respect and gratitude of me and my people," he informed them.

"Yes, well, it was nothing," Jonathan scoffed as he waved him off with one hand.

"May Allah smile upon you always."

"And you," Rick retorted with a small grin. Rick was relieved to see that at least Hamunaptra had not claimed Ardeth as well.

"Stay out of trouble," Ardeth said sternly as he looked at the book in Daniels' hand deliberately.

The Texan just grunted back as he clutched the book closer.

Ardeth turned his horse then, clicking at his tongue as he urged it into a gallop.

Jonathan looked after the man in disbelief. "He's just...leaving us here," he pointed out. "Good way to show your gratitude!" he called after him with an indignant look.

Rick turned to the camels who, after running for their lives, were now standing about calmly as if nothing had happened. He grabbed the reins of a creamy white one before mounting it and then reaching a hand down to Evelyn.

"Well I guess we go home empty handed," Jonathan remarked with a look of despair, "again."

"I wouldn't say that," Rick said softly as his tender stare locked with Evelyn's as she sat in front of him, sideways on the camel.

Evelyn smiled sweetly as she pressed one hand against the man's chest before pulling him down into a kiss.

Jonathan and Daniels both made a face of that. "Oh, please!" Jonathan scoffed as he grasped the reins of another camel. "How about you darling? Would you like a little kissy whissy?"

The camel pulled back slightly with a grunt of protest.

Jonathan frowned and then turned to Daniels. "How about you Mr. Daniels?"

"Fuck off," Daniels spat out with a roll of his eyes before he turned to a camel with a look of mistrust.

"Oh come on," Jonathan jested, "you might like it." He moved towards Daniels then, a teasing gleam in his blue eyes.

"Keep your hands off me!" Daniels snapped as he staggered back, cursing as he tripped over a rock as he did.

"This is going to be a long journey," Rick murmured as he shook his head at Evelyn.

As they moved off on the camels they all seemed oblivious to the heavy bags of treasure weighing down Jonathan's camel, bags hastily stolen by the greedy Beni who had foolishly tried to go back for more.

Daniels held the book as close as he could, ignoring the strain the weight of it put on his arm. As he watched Evelyn and O'Connell snuggling on the camel in front of him he felt a spark of envy jolt through him followed by a heavy guilt. He had let all of them down, he had left Burns in Hamunaptra to fall victim to the mummy, then again in the hotel, then he had left Henderson too, and finally, he had left Jess on the streets of Cairo to sacrifice herself for him. He pondered gloomily if she were here would he be holding her like O'Connell held Evelyn? He doubted it, but perhaps he might have at least kissed her. All that gold down there and Burns and Henderson hadn't been able to see it. His indigo eyes glanced down at the book purposely, unaware as to how Jonathan looked to it as well and then to Daniels as if guessing at his purpose.


	18. Epilogue

_I redid the epilogue, apologies to people who read the last one! Honestly I just wasn't happy about it and I debated over it before deciding to just rewrite it. It was just too OC with Daniels and Jonathan. I do still intend to do a sequel mind. Once again thanks for all the reviews and favs and to Kitty Daniels for her wonderful reviews and insights :-)_

* * *

It did not rain often in Cairo but when it did it put Jonathan in a miserable mood. The Englishman frowned at the sound of heavy drops beating off the roof as he sat in his living room, alone as usual, sipping quietly at a whiskey. He didn't really have a taste for the drink and supposed dryly that it was something that was starting to rub off on him from Mr. Daniels.

The Englishman tensed when a steady knock came at the door and he eyed it warily. It was late in the evening, just after eleven, and given how heavy the rain was he couldn't imagine that it was anyone pleasant. As the knock came again, Jonathan stood, tugging out his Colt pistol as he did, wondering who or what it could be this time. Given his past adventures he was ready to expect anything- living or dead.

Jonathan crossed the room hastily and hesitated at the door. He wanted to call out but knew he would hear no reply over that dreadful rain. He jumped slightly when a knock came again before swallowing hard and muttering to himself, "you've fought mummies man, you can deal with this!" He drew himself upright, pulled back the bolt on the door, turned the key and greeted the visitor with his gun.

"Safety's on," Daniels greeted him bluntly as he eyed the quivering gun hand with a frown. He pushed the Englishman back with one hand before trudging into the house, bringing a healthy amount of rainwater with him as he did.

"Good evening to you too," Jonathan retorted sardonically as he holstered his gun back in his blazer pocket and closed the door. "Please, do come in and trek mud all over my floor."

Daniels sat down on the couch and made a point of placing his mud stained boots on the coffee table. Jonathan just rolled his eyes at the man as he relocked the door before walking over to him. It had been just a week now since they had defeated the mummy Imhotep and fled Hamunaptra. They had found themselves suddenly very wealthy from their adventure, thanks to the late Beni Gabor having so helpfully and unintentionally loaded a camel with sacks of treasure for them. They had split the shares evenly but for the despondent Daniels it wasn't enough.

Jonathan, Rick and Evelyn had all expected the greedy Texan to bolt for American with his newfound wealth and they had been shocked when he hadn't. Instead, the first thing he had done, was used a very small portion of his coin to locate Jess' body and see it buried beside Henderson's and Burns'. Something had been lost in the man when he had eyed her dried up husk, Rick suspected until then Daniels had held out hopes of her somehow still walking the earth despite having seen her died.

Now here he was, stinking of whiskey and looking like he hadn't slept for days. His eyes were bloodshot, his stubble was getting messy and his dark hair was growing uneven beneath his hat. Jonathan tensed as the man leaned forward to set a now very familiar book down upon the table with a loud thud.

"It's been a week Johnny," Daniels said stiffly, "and I don't know what to do with this damn thing."

"Dav...er Mr. Daniels," Jonathan began with an awkward smile, "is this...well is it wise talking about it?"

Daniels looked up at the Englishman stonily. "No, of course it's not wise," he grumbled, "damn book causes nothing but trouble but..." He trailed off and muttered a curse. "Look Johnny, I may have been too stupid to notice the way Jess looked at me but I did notice how you looked at her," he said as he pointed at the man with an accusing hand. "What do you think should be done?"

Jonathan flinched at Daniels' words as he blushed faintly. "I don't know Mr. Daniels. I agree it's not fair what happened to Jess or to Mr. Henderson and Mr. Burns but the creature is defeated; I don't feel we can do much more." He offered a faint smile and added, "except enjoy our wealth and lives of course."

Daniels sighed as he tugged out a cigarette from his blazer pocket along with a box of matches. "I know Johnny but I let all of them down. I want to get on a boat and forget it but once I get home there will be questions and I can't avoid it. What the hell do I tell people?" He struck the match against the box and then lit his cigarette with it before waving the match out. "I don't know this hellhole city too well, it stinks of shit, the heat is unbearable and I'd rather go the rest of my life without seeing anymore of it but if I leave then it's final. Burns and Henderson have families and friends who will need some sorta explanation and what about Jess? I don't want to remember what happened here but then who will remember her?"

Jonathan sighed this time as he took a seat opposite Daniels and reached for the offending book tentatively. In comparison to the glittering Book of Amun-Ra the Book of the Dead was an ugly thing; made from obsidian, Jonathan was certain its colour was as much of a warning as its name. "I will remember her," he said softly.

"Can you?" Daniels queried bitterly as he pushed up the brow of his hat and frowned at the man. "I try to but I'm sure you can guess all I remember right now. I shouldn't be walking and that's a fact, I should be a dried up corpse like Henderson and Burns. Fuck Jonathan I feel like I'm in limbo here."

"Mr. Daniels just get on a boat and go home," Jonathan advised with a sympathetic stare as he pushed the book back.

"It's hard when my friends can't get on with me," Daniels grumbled.

* * *

One month passed by before Daniels, O'Connell, Jonathan and Evelyn finally decided to depart Egypt. Evelyn and Rick made plans to go to England with their newfound fortune and Jonathan was determined to go with them, eager to see his homeland once more. Rick and Evelyn couldn't fathom what had kept Daniels wasting away under the desert sun for so long. Evelyn guessed that it was as simple as guilt, murmuring to Rick that the man couldn't face telling his friends and family back home about what had happened, undoubtedly fearing some sort of blame upon himself for surviving when Henderson and Burns had not. Rick had agreed though he had also jested that it must be whores and drink that kept Daniels in Cairo as the man seemed to be spending plenty of time with both.

The Texan was a shadow of his former self- pale, unwashed, unshaven and noticeably broken. He had never been much of a talker but now anyone was lucky to get two words out of him and his temper had gotten to the point that he was banned from most establishments and had seemed to move into Jonathan and Evelyn's quarters though Evelyn couldn't pinpoint when exactly this had happened.

The Englishwoman had tired of nursing the man's hangovers, especially when it involved cleaning vomit from his face. She wondered at his state, half-thinking he was a man determined to die before she realised that it was quite the opposite. In fact the man seemed almost mad with some internal conflict that had Evelyn wondering about a certain book in his possession. She had her suspicions over it, and had hassled Jonathan about it but if her brother knew anything he didn't reveal it.

Jonathan alone knew what Daniels tried to drown out with drink, as he found himself reaching for the bottle several times himself with the same desperation. Daniels was tormented on a nightly basis by wraiths- Henderson had found him in an alleyway, Bethany had called at the door, Burns had stood crying out accusations at him in a hotel bedroom and Jess, Jess had just lingered, staring at him in his bed. Jonathan had shared some of those torments, he had seen Jess out a window when Daniels had joined him one night, and a few times he had woken in the night to shadows and whispers, though he could never pinpoint who or what they had belonged to. Set's curse had almost devoured Daniels and it was growing strong against Jonathan.

Jonathan wondered if the curse would follow them across the ocean or if Daniels' sanity would survive long enough to see the curse undone. Jonathan wasn't sure what exactly would undo the curse, uncertain that it would be as simple as resurrecting Jess. He had suggested instead to Daniels that maybe ridding himself of the book and any potential of bringing the young woman, reasoning that that might at least satisfy Set if not Daniels. It might not undo Jess' curse but it might at least end it for Daniels and Jonathan.

All Jonathan knew with any certainty was that it was time to go. The people of Cairo were talking, there were too many queries about the Texan's lost companions, the rumours of bodies in the fort, a mummy roaming the streets and the significance of the plagues. No one wanted anymore trouble and to a good lot of the natives the hot tempered, foreign Daniels seemed to represent trouble in spades. It didn't help his case any that his one common associate was a known thief and cheat, or that the fellow American who occasionally came to drag him from bars and fights had once been sentenced to hang for his crimes before being narrowly saved by the interventions of a woman.

It was on an unreasonably hot morning that Daniels arrived at the Carnahan household one final time, his intentions clear.

Evelyn greeted him at the door, unsurprised to see his mood at black as ever. She recoiled slightly from the odour of whiskey on his breath as he greeted her with a nod before she stepped back to let him in. The humble quarters of the house were in a form of organised chaos- cases and suitcases were in various stages of being packed whilst clothes and books lay scattered over the furniture and floor.

Daniels stepped into the living room and slammed the Book of the Dead down on the coffee table causing Jonathan to jump slightly.

The Englishman had been resting on the couch taking his umpteenth break from the packing. He looked up at Daniels with a startled look before his sea blue eyes fell on the book. "Ah, that thing again," he muttered.

"Call it a parting gift," Daniels remarked gruffly as he frowned down at Jonathan.

"Pardon?" Evelyn remarked as she looked at the American with wide, hazel eyes.

"I don't want it," he grunted.

"Well we don't really either," Jonathan muttered as he looked at the thing distastefully.

"Jonathan let's not be rude," Evelyn piped up hastily as she manoeuvred herself in front of Daniels. "What my brother means to say is thank you for the thought and does this mean you're going home?"

Daniels nodded. He tensed and glanced over his right shoulder sharply. They were standing against the wall, shadowy and almost translucent but he could still recognise them. Henderson, Burns and Jess- his three ghosts. Daniels felt a faint spark of relief as he noticed how they appeared fainter and their voices were softer on his ears.

"Going to run and not look back? We ain't resting," Henderson scorned, "but we ain't living either, maybe when you go we can finally rest."

Evelyn inched up on her tiptoes to glance over Daniels' shoulder, swaying left and right as she tried and failed to see what the man was looking at.

"Don't look at them," Daniels advised tiredly, "that just makes it worse."

"Look at who?" Evelyn pried as her hazel eyes flickered up to him with a measure of concern. 'He doesn't seem delirious with drink,' she thought to herself. 'Is it fatigue? Man doesn't look like he's slept; he should have gone home long ago.'

They all turned hearing footsteps on the stairs, relaxing slightly when O'Connell's familiar tan boots appeared in sight. "I thought we were packing," the Chicago born male remarked sardonically. "Seems I'm the only working as usual." He paused as he reached the bottom of the stairs and his warm, blue stare fell on Daniels. He awarded his fellow American with a bright, tight smile. "Daniels, to what do we owe this pleasure? Another bar throw you out? Or is there no room at the inn again? You really don't know how to use your wealth, do you?"

Daniels fixed a hostile stare on the man before shrugging. "I'm just saying farewell O'Connell, for forever hopefully."

"Well it's about time, not that I won't miss your cheery attitude," Rick retorted teasingly. He stepped forward and held out a hand to the man.

Daniels accepted the hand and shook it as Jonathan finally stood up from the couch. "Goodbye Dav...id," Jonathan said awkwardly, daring to call the man by his first name as it was farewell after all. "I hope you remember us fondly."

Daniels turned to him with a wilting look even as he took his hand. "No offence Jonathan but I hope I don't remember any of you, or this cursed place."

"What about your friends?" Evelyn blurted out. "And Jess?"

Daniels released Jonathan's hand and fixed a cool, blue stare on the woman. "I'll remember Henderson and Burns as they were not what they became. As for Jess," he took off his fedora and frowned down at it, "I'll remember her too."

Rick's stern stare fell on the book before it flickered up to Daniels. "Planning a little light reading?" he quipped sarcastically.

"It's a parting gift," Evelyn informed him as she gave him a warning look.

Rick rested his hands on his hips as he frowned back at Evelyn before turning his disapproving stare back to Daniels. "You couldn't have just bought us a nice pot or something? Evelyn that book is not staying here. Why did you even take it Daniels? Lost the desire to read it already?"

"I find the language a little unpleasant," Daniels grumbled. "And you can do what you like with it, burn it for all I care." He froze again as Jess' ghostly figure gave him a cold stare. Her dried out amber stare was full of malice reminding him that it wasn't really her but just the remnants of Set's curse. "I hope you don't follow me to Texas," he muttered as he finally put his fedora back on.

"No desire to," Rick assured him. "So you finally used your brain and realised using the book was a bad idea, I'm glad, it only took you a month."

"Rick really," Evelyn chided him.

"Well I won't deny contemplating it," Daniels admitted darkly. His frown deepened as Burns and Henderson shouted insults at him. "I mean what if they're in Egyptian hell with that mummy?"

"They won't be," Evelyn assured but the truth was she wondered the same thing. "Anyway, the book wouldn't have brought them back right, probably."

"Definitely," Rick assured.

"Right," Daniels mumbled, "well goodbye."

"Goodbye and good luck," Rick retorted. "And don't worry; I'll be sure to burn the book."

"Goodbye," Evelyn said sweetly.

"Yes, goodbye chap and have a good journey," Jonathan remarked brightly.

Daniels finally departed Cairo in the late afternoon, catching the boat to Alexandria. He travelled with his treasure close to hand, staying up on deck with it. As the boat left the shores of Cairo it was to the sound of jackals howling from the desert. Daniels was thankful he couldn't see them as he smoked heavily, resisting the itch for a drink as he was determined to keep sober to keep a better eye on his treasure. He thought glumly of the months he had wasted here, hiding from facing the reality at home whilst contemplating Jess' curse. The young woman had died for him, and he knew he owed her but Set's curse had worn him down in the end. Nor could Daniels fully shift his conviction that using the book was wrong.

He sighed heavily as he leaned across the railing slightly as he felt a weight lift off his shoulders as Cairo finally slipped out of sight. He felt a mild happiness he was going home a rich man after all but it was hard not to feel guilt with it, Henderson and Burns should have been sharing this wealth, it had been Henderson's idea to come here after all and if it wasn't for Jess he wouldn't be here at all.

'I'm sorry,' he thought mournfully, 'but I need to keep living.'


End file.
